Works of Jules Verne

THE AURORA AT THE SOUTHERN POLE.

Firstly, a few days after our departure from the land of the Sphinx,
the sun set behind the western horizon to reappear no more for the
whole winter. It was then in the midst of the semi-darkness of the
austral night that the Paracuta pursued her monotonous course. True,
the southern polar lights were frequently visible; but they were not the
sun, that single orb of day which had illumined our horizons during
the months of the Antarctic summer, and their capricious splendor could
not replace his unchanging light. That long darkness of the poles shed
a moral and physical influence on mortals which no one can elude, a
gloomy and overwhelming impression almost impossible to resist.—
Page 388.

bio

arfI

EDITED BY

CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D.

Professor of English, College of the City of New York;
Author of "The Technique of the Novel," etc.

Vincent Parke and Company
new york : : : : London

Copyright, 1911,
by Vincent Parke and Company.

CONTENTS

Volume; Fourteen

Introduction .
Robur the; Conqueror .
The Master of the Wored.
The Sphinx of Ice

1

3

145

263

ILLUSTRATIONS

Volume Fourteen

The Aurora at the Southern Pole Frontispiece

The Escape from Niagara 224

At the Base of the Sphinx . . . . 320

vii

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME FOURTEEN

*> -*u OBUR THE CONQUEROR" was issued in
Ty % i886, coincident with the earliest practical
X\j J> interest which began to stir the world in re-
gard to the " conquest of the air" With his
usual boldly scientific imagination Verne, hav-
ing studied the question thoroughly from all sides, looked
into the future, formed a judgment, and pictured the con-
quering air machine in the style he believed most likely to
achieve success.

In his poetical climax Verne declares that Robur is " the
spirit of the future "; and it is true that even to-day we can
build no airship to match the "Albatross" We have, how-
ever, far outdistanced the historical account of aviation
which Verne gives us in the course of his story, and which
necessarily ceases with the early "eighties." The experi-
ments of Professor Langley in Washington in 1896 started
the world on toward a true knowledge of the laws of flight.
Since then Professor Zeppelin and a dozen others in the
" lighter than air "' machines, and the Wright brothers and
a hundred others in those " heavier than air," have achieved
results which scarce any but Verne himself had even
dreamed of, when he wrote "Robur the Conqueror"

The contest between the two schools, the lighter and
heavier than air, is however by no means so completely de-
cided as Verne assumes. While perhaps a majority side
with him on this point to-day, yet many of our most expert
scientists believe that the future lies with the dirigible bal-
loon, rather than with the gliding plane. As for Verne's
still more radically "heavy" ship, sustained aloft by the
dirpnt lift of her screws, nothing in the least practical has
as yet been achieved in that line. On the contrary, it has
been almost abandoned for the other more successful styles.
Nearly twenty years after writing "Robur," lules Verne
turned again to the same theme; and in 1905, the very year
of his death, his faithful publishers, the Hetzels, issued
" The Master of the World."' This, as a sequel to " Robur
the Conqueror" is here printed next to it. The sequel

1

2 INTRODUCTION

clearly evidences that the inventive power of the aged mas-
ter and his skill in conceiving and portraying a dramatic
climax remained unimpaired even to the end.

For the background of this story, Verne returns chiefly
to the region of Lake Erie and Niagara, the tremendous
cataract which had so impressed him on his visit to it
nearly forty years before, and which he had described in
" The Floating City/''

As to the marvelous machine by which the Master of the
World maintains his mastery, it is unlike Verne's earlier
imaginative creations in that we are compelled sadly to
admit that this last stupendous dream of the great romancer
holds no appreciable possibility of ever being realised.
Science is to-day as incredulous of the possibility of com-
bining the lightness and superficial area of the airship with
the weight and compactness of the submarine, as the sup-
posed police of Washington show themselves in the story.
Indeed, in reading it, one can scarce help sympathising with
these unfortunate detectives, brought by the author face to
face with a practically impossible problem and summoned
to solve it by the workaday laws of common sense.

" The Sphinx of Ice," the third story in the present vol-
ume, was published in 1897. Its interest to Americans is
much enhanced by the fact that it builds itself upon, is in
fact a sequel to, our own Edgar Allan Poe's celebrated tale
" The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym."' In the present issue
for Americans the retelling of Poe's tale and the earlier
pages of aimless wandering from one Antarctic island to
another, have been considerably abridged.

The story itself, once it is fairly launched upon its theme
of search and strife and icy mystery is well deserving of
remembrance. As to the geography of the Antarctic Pole,
however, Verne has been less happy than usual in his
guesses. The daring expedition of Lieutenant Shackleton,
who in ipop reached within less than a hundred miles of
the pole, seems to have established that there is no warmer
region such as Verne here describes, no open sea, indeed no
polar passage whatsoever. On the contrary, the Southern
Pole is surrounded by an icebound continent of unknoivn
extent, and lies upon a mountainous table-land probably
ten thousand feet in height.

Robur the Conqueror

OR

The Clipper of the Clouds

CHAPTER I

MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS

ANG! Bang!"

The pistol shots were almost simultaneous.
A cow peacefully grazing fifty yards away re-
ceived one of the bullets in her back. She had
nothing to do with the quarrel all the same.
Neither of the adversaries was hit.

Who were these two gentlemen ? We do not know, al-
though this would be an excellent opportunity to hand down
their names to posterity. All we can say is that the elder
was an Englishman and the younger an American, and both
of them were old enough to know better.

So far as recording in what locality the inoffensive rumi-
nant had just tasted her last tuft of herbage, nothing can
be easier. It was on the left bank of Niagara, not far from
the suspension bridge which joins the American to the
Canadian bank three miles from the falls.

The Englishman stepped up to the American.

" I contend, nevertheless, that it was ' Rule Britannia ! ' "

" And I say it was ' Yankee Doodle ! ' " replied the young
American.

The dispute was about to begin again when one of the
seconds — doubtless in the interests of the milk trade — in-
terposed.

" Suppose we say it was ' Rule Doodle ' and * Yankee
Britannia,' and adjourn to breakfast? "

This compromise between the national airs of Great
Britain and the United States was adopted to the general
satisfaction. The Americans and Englishmen walked up
the left bank of the Niagara on their way to Goat Island,
the neutral ground between the falls. Let us leave them
in the presence of the boiled eggs and traditional ham, and
floods enough of tea to make the cataract jealous, and

V. XIV Verne 3

4 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

trouble ourselves no more about them. It is extremely un-
likely that we shall again meet with them in this story.

Which was right; the Englishman or the American? It
is not easy to say. Anyhow the duel shows how great was
the excitement, not only in the new but also in the old
world, with regard to an inexplicable phenomenon which
for a month or more had driven everybody to distraction.

Never had the sky been so much looked at since the
appearance of man on the terrestrial globe. The night be-
fore an aerial trumpet had blared its brazen notes through
space immediately over that part of Canada between Lake
Ontario and Lake Erie. Some people had heard those notes
as " Yankee Doodle," others had heard them as " Rule
Britannia," and hence the quarrel between the Anglo-
Saxons, which ended with the breakfast on Goat Island.
Perhaps it was neither one nor the other of these patriotic
tunes, but what was undoubted by all was that these ex-
traordinary sounds had seemed to descend from the sky to
the earth.

What could it be? Was it some exuberant aeronaut re-
joicing on that sonorous instrument of which the Re-
nommee makes such obstreperous use ?

No ! There was no balloon and there were no aeronauts.
Some strange phenomenon had occurred in the higher
zones of the atmosphere, a phenomenon of which neither
the nature nor the cause could be explained. To-day it
appeared over America; forty-eight hours afterwards it
iwas over Europe; a week later it was in Asia over the
Celestial Empire.

Hence in every country of the world — empire, kingdom,
or republic — there was anxiety which it was important to
allay. If you hear in your house strange and inexplicable
noises, do you not at once endeavor to discover the cause?
And if your search is in vain, do you not leave your house
and take up your quarters in another? But in this case the
house was the terrestrial globe! There are no means of
leaving that house for the moon, or Mars, or Venus, or
Jupiter, or any other planet of the solar system. And so
of necessity we have to find out what it is that takes place,
not in the infinite void, but within the atmospherical zones.
In fact, if there is no air there is no noise, and as there was
a noise— that famous trumpet, to wit— the phenomenon

MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS 5

must occur in the air, the density of which invariably di-
minishes, and which does not extend for more than six
miles round our spheroid.

Naturally the newspapers took up the question in their
thousands, and treated it in every form, throwing on it both
light and darkness, recording many things about it true
or false, alarming and tranquillizing their readers — as the
sale required — and almost driving ordinary people mad.
At one blow party politics dropped unheeded — and the af-
fairs of the world went on none the worse for it.

But what could this thing be? There was not an ob-
servatory that was not applied to. If an observatory could
not give a satisfactory answer, what was the use of ob-
servatories? If astronomers, who doubled and tripled the
stars a hundred thousand million miles away, could not
explain a phenomenon occurring only a few miles off, what
was the use of astronomers?

The observatory at Paris was very guarded in what it
said. In the mathematical section they had not thought
the statement worth noticing; in the meridional section
they knew nothing about it; in the physical observatory
they had not come across it; in the geodetic section they
had had no observation ; in the meteorological section there
had been no record; in the calculating room they had had
nothing to deal with. At any rate this confession was a
frank one, and the same frankness characterized the replies
from the observatory of Montsouris and the magnetic sta-
tion in the park of St. Maur. The same respect for the
truth distinguished the Bureau des Longitudes.

The provinces were slightly more affirmative. Perhaps
in the night of the fifth and morning of the sixth of May
there had appeared a flash of light of electrical origin which
lasted about twenty seconds. At the Pic du Midi this light
appeared between nine and ten in the evening. At the
Meteorological Observatory on the Puy de Dome the light
had been observed between one and two o'clock in the morn-
ing; at Mont Ventoux in Provence it had been seen between
two and three o'clock; at Nice it had been noticed between
three and four o'clock; while at the Semnoz Alps between
Annecy, Le Bourget, and Le Leman, it had been detected
just as the zenith was paling with the dawn.

Now it evidently would not do to disregard these ob-

6 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

servations altogether. There could be no doubt that a light
had been observed at different places, in succession, at in-
tervals, during some hours. Hence, whether it had been
produced from many centers in the terrestrial atmosphere,
or from one center, it was plain that the light must have
traveled at a speed of over one hundred and twenty miles
an hour.

In the United Kingdom there was much perplexity. The
observatories were not in agreement. Greenwich would
not consent to the proposition of Oxford. They were
agreed on one point, however, and that was : " It was noth-
ing at all ! "

But, said one, " It was an optical illusion ! " While the
other contended that, " It was an acoustical illusion! " And
so they disputed. Something, however, was, it will be seen,
common to both. " It was an illusion."

Between the observatory of Berlin and the observatory
of Vienna the discussion threatened to end in international
complications; but Russia, in the person of the director of
the observatory at Pulkowa, showed that both were right.
It all depended on the point of view from which they at-
tacked the phenomenon, which, though impossible in theory,
was possible in practice.

In Switzerland, at the observatory of Sautis in the can-
ton of Appenzell, at the Righi, at the Gabriss, in the passes
of the St. Gothard, at the St. Bernard, at the Julier, at the
Simplon, at Zurich, at Somblick in the Tyrolean Alps, there
was a very strong disinclination to say anything about what
nobody could prove — and that was nothing but reasonable.
But in Italy, at the meteorological stations on Vesuvius,
on Etna in the old Casa Inglesi, at Monte Cavo, the ob-
servers made no hestitation in admitting the materiality of
the phenomenon, particularly as they had seen it by day
in the form of a small cloud of vapor, and by night in that
of a shooting star. But of what it was they knew nothing.
Scientists began at last to tire of the mystery, while they
continued to disagree about it, and even to frighten the
lowly and the ignorant, who, thanks to one of the wisest
laws of nature, have formed, form, and will form the im-
mense majority of the world's inhabitants. Astronomers
and meteorologists would soon have dropped the subject
altogether had not, on the night of the 26th and 27th, the

MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS 7

observatory of Kautokeino at Finmark, in Norway, and
during the night of the 28th and 29th that of Isfjord at
Spitzbergen — Norwegian one and Swedish the other — -
found themselves agreed in recording that in the center
of an aurora borealis there had appeared a sort of huge
bird, an aerial monster, whose structure they were unable
to determine, but who, there was no doubt, was showering
off from his 'body certain corpuscles which exploded like
bombs.

In Europe not a doubt was thrown on this observation
of the stations in Finmark and Spitzbergen. But what ap-
peared the most phenomenal about it was that the Swedes
and Norwegians could find themselves in agreement on any
subject whatever.

There was a laugh at the asserted discovery in all the
observatories of South America, in Brazil, Peru, and La
Plata, and in those of Australia at Sydney, Adelaide, and
Melbourne; and Australian laughter is very catching.

To sum up, only one chief of a meteorological station
ventured on a decided answer to this question, notwithstand-
ing the sarcasms that his solution provoked. This was a
Chinaman, the director of the observatory at Zi-Ka-Wey
which rises in the center of a vast plateau less than thirty
miles from the sea, having an immense horizon and wonder-
fully pure atmosphere. " It is possible," said he, " that the
object was an aviform apparatus — a flying machine!"

What nonsense !

But if the controversy was keen in the old world, we can
imagine what it was like in that portion of the new of which
the United States occupy so vast an area.

A Yankee, we know, does not waste time on the road.
He takes the street that leads him straight to his end. And
the observatories of the American Federation did not hesi-
tate to do their best. If they did not hurl their objectives
at each others' heads, it was because they would have had
to put them back just when they most wanted to use them.
In this much-disputed question the observatories of Wash-
ington in the District of Columbia, and Cambridge in
Massachusetts, found themselves opposed by those of Dart-
mouth College in New Hampshire, and Ann Arbor in Mich-
igan. The subject of their dispute was not the nature of
the body observed, but the precise moment of its observa-

8 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

tion. All of them claimed to have seen it the same night,
the same hour, the same minute, the same second, although
the trajectory of the mysterious voyager took it but a mod-
erate height above the horizon. Now from Massachusetts
to Michigan, from New Hampshire to Columbia, the dis-
tance is too great for this double observation, made at the
same moment, to be considered possible.

Dudley at Albany, in the state of New York, and West
Point, the military academy, showed that their colleagues
were wrong by an elaborate calculation of the right ascen-
sion and declination of the aforesaid body.

But later on it was discovered that the observers had
been deceived in the body, and that what they had seen
was an aerolite. This aerolite could not be the object in
question, for how could an aerolite blow a trumpet ?

It was in vain that they tried to get rid of this trumpet
as an acoustical illusion. The ears were no more deceived
than the eyes. Something had assuredly been seen, and
something had assuredly been heard. In the night of the
1 2th and 13th of May — a very dark night — the observers
at Yale College, in the Sheffield Science School, had been
able to take down a few bars of a musical phrase in D
major, common time, which gave note for note, rhythm
for rhythm, the chorus of the Chant du Depart.

" Good," said the Yankee wags. " There is a French
band well up in the air."

" But to joke is not to answer." Thus said the observa-
tory at Boston, founded by the Atlantic Iron Works Soci-
ety, whose opinions in matters of astronomy and meteorol-
ogy began to have much weight in the world of science.

Then there intervened the observatory at Cincinnati,
founded in 1870, on Mount Lookout, thanks to the gener-
osity of Mr. Kilgour, and known for its micrometrical
measurements of double stars. Its director declared with
the utmost good faith that there had certainly been some-
thing, that a traveling body had shown itself at very short
periods at different points in the atmosphere, but what were
the nature of this body, its dimensions, its speed, and its
trajectory, it was impossible to say.

It was then that a journal whose publicity is immense —
the New York Herald — received the anonymous contribu-
tion hereunder.

MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS 9

"There will be in the recollection of most people the
rivalry which existed a few years ago between the two
heirs of the Begum of Ragginahra, the French doctor Sar-
rasin, in the city of Frankville, and the German engineer
Schultze, in the city of Steeltown, both in the south of
Oregon in the United States.

" It will not have been forgotten that, with the object of
destroying Frankville, Herr Schultze launched a formid-
able engine, intended to beat down the town and annihilate
it at a single blow.

" Still less will it be forgotten that this engine, whose
initial velocity as it left the mouth of the monster cannon
had been erroneously calculated, had flown off at a speed
exceeding by sixteen times that of ordinary projectiles —
or about four hundred and fifty miles an hour — that it did
not fall to the ground, and that it passed into an aerolitic
stage, so as to circle for ever round our globe.
" Why should not this be the body in question? "
Very ingenious, Mr. Correspondent of the New York
Herald! but how about the trumpet? There was no trum-
pet in Herr Schultze's projectile !

So all the explanations explained nothing, and all the
observers had observed in vain. There remained only the
suggestion offered by the director of Zi-Ka-Wey. But the
opinion of a Chinaman!

The discussion continued, and there was no sign of agree-
ment. Then came a short period of rest. Some days
elapsed without any object, aerolite or otherwise, being
descried, and without any trumpet notes being heard in the
atmosphere. The body then had fallen on some part of the
globe where it had been difficult to trace it; in the sea, per-
haps. Had it sunk in the depths of the Atlantic, the Pa-
cific, or the Indian Ocean? What was to be said in this
matter?

But then, between the 2nd and 9th of June, there came
a new series of facts which could not possibly be explained
by the unaided existence of a cosmic phenomenon.

In a week the Hamburgers at the top of St. Michael's
Tower, the Turks on the highest minaret of St. Sophia,
the Rouennais at the end of the metal spire of their cathe-
dral, the Strasburgers at the summit of their minster, the
Americans on the head of the Liberty statue at the entrance

io ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

of the Hudson and on the Bunker Hill monument at Boston,
the Chinese at the spike of the temple of the Four Hun-
dred Genii at Canton, the Hindoos on the sixteenth terrace
of the pyramid of the temple at Tanjore, the San Pietrini
at the cross of St. Peter's at Rome, the English at the
cross of St. Paul's in London, the Egyptians at the
apex of the Great Pyramid of Ghizeh, the Parisians at the
lightning conductor of the iron tower of the Exposition of
1889, a thousand feet high, all of them beheld a flag float-
ing from some one of these inaccessible points.

And the flag was black, dotted with stars, and it bore a
golden sun in its center.

CHAPTER II

AGREEMENT IMPOSSIBLE

"And the first who says the contrary-

" Indeed ! But we will say the contrary so long as there
is a place to say it in ! "

" And in spite of your threats "

" Mind what you are saying, Bat Fynn ! "
" Mind what you are saying, Uncle Prudent ! "
" I maintain that the screw ought to be behind ! "
"And so do we! And so do we!" replied half a hun-
dred voices confounded in one.

"No! It ought to be in front!" shouted Phil Evans.
"In front!" roared fifty other voices, with a vigor in
no whit less remarkable.
" We shall never agree ! "
"Never! Never!"
" Then what is the use of a dispute? "
" It is not a dispute ! It is a discussion ! "
One would not have thought so to listen to the taunts,
objurgations, and vociferations which filled the lecture
room for a good quarter of an hour.

The room was one of the largest in the Weldon Institute,
the well-known club in Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania, U. S. A. The evening before there had been an
election of a lamplighter, occasioning many public mani-
festations, noisy meetings, and even interchanges of blows,
resulting in an effervescence which had not yet subsided,

AGREEMENT IMPOSSIBLE n

and which would account for some of the excitement just
exhibited by the members of the Weldon Institute. For
this was merely a meeting of balloonists, discussing the
burning question of the direction of balloons.
_ In this great saloon there were struggling, pushing, ges-
ticulating, shouting, arguing, disputing, a hundred balloon-
ists, all with their hats on, under the authority of a presi-
dent, assisted by a secretary and treasurer. They were not
engineers by profession, but simply amateurs of all that
appertained to aerostatics, and they were amateurs in a
fury, and especially foes of those who would oppose to
aerostats "apparatuses heavier than the air," flying ma-
chines, aerial ships, or what not. That these people might
one day discover the method of guiding balloons is possible.
There could be no doubt that their president had consider-
able difficulty in guiding them.

This president, well known in Philadelphia, was the
famous Uncle Prudent, Prudent being his family name.
There is nothing surprising in America in the qualificative
uncle, for you can there be uncle without having either
nephew or niece. There they speak of uncle as in other
places they speak of father, though the father may have had
no children.

Uncle Prudent was a personage of consideration, and in
spite of his name was well known for his audacity. He
was very rich, and that is no drawback even in the United
States; and how could it be otherwise when he owned the
greater part of the shares in Niagara Falls? A society
of engineers had just been founded at Buffalo for working
the cataract. It seemed to be an excellent speculation. The
seven thousand five hundred cubic meters that pass over
Niagara in a second would produce seven millions of horse-
power. This enormous power, distributed amongst all the
workshops within a radius of three hundred miles, would
return an annual income of three hundred million dollars,
of which the greater part would find its way into the pocket
of Uncle Prudent. He was a bachelor, he lived quietly,
and for his only servant had his valet Frycollin, who was
hardly worthy of being the servant to so audacious a master.
Uncle Prudent was rich, and therefore he had friends, as
was natural ; but he also had enemies, although he was presi-
dent of the club — among others all those who envied his

12 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

position. Amongst his bitterest foes we may mention the
secretary of the Weldon Institute.

This was Phil Evans, who was also very rich, being the
manager of the Wheclton Watch Company, an important
manufactory, which makes every day five hundred move-
ments equal in every respect to the best Swiss workman-
ship. Phil Evans would have passed for one of the hap-
piest men in the world, and even in the United States, if
it had not been for Uncle Prudent. Like him he was in
his forty-sixth year; like him of invariable health; like him
of undoubted boldness. They were two men made to
understand each other thoroughly, but they did not, for
both were of extreme violence of character. Uncle Pru-
dent was furiously hot; Phil Evans was abnormally cool.

And why had not Phil Evans been elected president of
the club? The votes were exactly divided between Uncle
Prudent and him. Twenty times there had been a scrutiny,
and twenty times the majority had not declared for either
one or the other. The position was embarrassing, and it
might have lasted for the lifetime of the candidates.

One of the members of the club then proposed a way
out of the difficulty. This was Jem Chip, the treasurer of
the Weldon Institute. Chip was a confirmed vegetarian,
a proscriber of all animal nourishment, of all fermented
liquors, half a Mussulman, half a Brahman. On this oc-
casion Jem Chip was supported by another member of the
club, William T. Forbes, the manager of a large factory
where they made glucose by treating rags with sulphuric
acid. A man of good standing was this William T. Forbes,
the father of two charming girls — Miss Dorothy, called
Doll, and Miss Martha, called Mat, who gave the tone to
the best society in Philadelphia.

It followed, then, on the proposition of Jem Chip, sup-
ported by William T. Forbes and others, that it was de-
cided to elect the president " on the center point."

This mode of election can be applied in all cases when
it is desired to elect the most worthy; and a number of
Americans of high intelligence are already thinking of em-
ploying it in the nomination of the President of the Re-
public of the United States.

On two boards of perfect whiteness a black line is traced.
The length of each of these lines is mathematically the

AGREEMENT IMPOSSIBLE 13

same, for they have been determined with as much ac-
curacy as the base of the first triangle in a trigonometrical
survey. That done, the two boards were erected on the
same day in the center of the conference room, and the two
candidates, each armed with a fine needle, marched towards
the board that had fallen to his lot. The man who planted
his needle nearest the center of the line would be proclaimed
President of the Weldon Institute.

The operation must be done at once — no guide marks or
trial shots allowed; nothing but sureness of eye. The man
must have a compass in his eye, as the saying goes; that
iwas all.

Uncle Prudent stuck in his needle at the same moment as
Phil Evans did his. Then there began the measurement
to discover which of the two competitors had most nearly
approached the center.

Wonderful! Such had been the precision of the shots
that the measures gave no appreciable difference. If they
were not exactly in the mathematical center of the line,
the distance between the needles was so small as to be in-
visible to the naked eye.

The meeting was much embarrassed.

Fortunately one of the members, Truck Milnor, insisted
that the measurements should be remade by means of a
rule graduated by the micrometrical machine of M. Per-
reaux, which can divide a millimeter into fifteen hundred
parts. This rule, dividing the fifteen-hundredths of a milli-
meter with a diamond splinter, was brought to bear on the
lines, and on reading the divisions through a microscope
the following were the results: Uncle Prudent had ap-
proached the center within less than six fifteen-hundredths
of a millimeter. Phil Evans was within nine fifteen-hun-
dredths.

And that is why Phil Evans was only secretary of the
Weldon Institute, whereas Uncle Prudent was president.
A difference of three fifteen-hundredths of a millimeter!
And on account of it Phil Evans vowed against Uncle
Prudent one of those hatreds which are none the less fierce
for being latent.

CHAPTER III

A VISITOR IS ANNOUNCED

The many experiments made during this last quarter
of the nineteenth century have given considerable impetus
to the question of guidable balloons. The cars furnished
with propellers attached in 1852 to the aerostats of the
elongated form introduced by Henry Giffard, the machines
of Dupuy de Lome in 1872, of the Tissandier brothers in
1883, and of Captains Krebs and Renard in 1884, yielded
many important results. But if these machines, moving
in a medium heavier than themselves, maneuvering under
the propulsion of a screw, working at an angle to the di-
rection of the wind, and even against the wind, to return
to their point of departure, had been really "guidable,"
they had only succeeded under very favorable conditions.
In large covered halls their success was perfect. In a
calm atmosphere they did very well. In a light wind of
five or six yards a second they still moved. But nothing
practical had been obtained. Against a miller's wind — .
nine yards a second — the machines had remained almost
stationary. Against a fresh breeze — eleven yards a second
— they would have advanced backwards. In a storm — 1
twenty-seven to thirty-three yards a second — they would
have been blown about like a feather. In a hurricane — •
sixty yards a second — they would have run the risk of
being dashed to pieces. And in one of those cyclones which
exceed a hundred yards a second not a fragment of them
would have been left. It remained, then, even after the
striking experiments of Captains Krebs and Renard, that
though guidable aerostats had gained a little speed, they
could not be kept going in a moderate breeze. Hence the
impossibility of making practical use of this mode of aerial
locomotion.

With regard to the means employed to give the aerostat
its motion a great deal of progress had been made. For
the steam engines of Henry Giffard, and the muscular force
of Dupuy de Lome, electric motors had gradually been
substituted. The batteries of bichromate of potassium of
the Tissandier brothers had given a speed of four yards a
second. The dynamo-electric machines of Captains Krebs
and Renard had developed a force of twelve horsepower
and yielded a speed of six and a half yards per second.

14

A VISITOR IS ANNOUNCED 15

With regard to this motor, engineers and electricians
had been approaching more and more to that desideratum
which is known as a steam horse in a watch case. Grad-
ually the results of the pile of which Captains Krebs and
Renard had kept the secret had been surpassed, and aero-
nauts had become able to avail themselves of motors whose
lightness increased at the same time as their power.

In this there was much to encourage those who believed
in the utilization of guidable balloons. But yet how many
good people there are who refuse to admit the possibility
of such a thing! If the aerostat finds support in the air
it belongs to the medium in which it moves; under such
conditions, how can its mass, which offers so much re-
sistance to the currents of the atmosphere, make its way
against the wind?

In this struggle of the inventors after a light and power-
ful motor, the Americans had most nearly attained what
they sought. A dynamo-electric apparatus, in which a new
pile was employed the composition of which was still a
mystery, had been bought from its inventor, a Boston
chemist up to then unknown. Calculations made with the
greatest care, diagrams drawn with the utmost exactitude,
showed that by means of this apparatus driving a screw of
given dimensions a displacement could be obtained of from
twenty to twenty-two yards a second.
Now this was magnificent!

" And it is not dear," said Uncle Prudent, as he handed
to the inventor in return for his formal receipt the last in-
stalment of the hundred thousand paper dollars he had paid
for his invention.

Immediately the Weldon Institute set to work'. When
there comes along a project of practical utility the money
leaps nimbly enough from American pockets. The funds
flowed in even without its being necessary to form a syndi-
cate. Three hundred thousand dollars came into the club's
account at the first appeal. The work began under the
superintendence of the most celebrated aeronaut of the
United States, Harry W. Tinder, immortalized by three of
his ascents out of a thousand, one in which he rose to a
height of twelve thousand yards, higher than Gay Lussac,
Coxwell, Sivet, Croce-Spinelli, Tissandier, Glaisher; an-
other in which he had crossed America from New York to

16 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

San Francisco, exceeding by many hundred leagues the
journeys of Nadar, Godard, and others, to say nothing of
that of John Wise, who accomplished eleven hundred and
fifty miles from St. Louis to Jefferson county; the third,
which ended in a frightful fall from fifteen hundred feet
at the cost of a slight sprain in the right thumb, while the
less fortunate Pilatre de Rozier fell only seven hundred
feet, and yet killed himself on the spot!

At the time this story begins the Weldon Institute had
got their work well in hand. In the Turner yard at Phila-
delphia there reposed an enormous aerostat, whose strength
had been tried by highly compressed air. It well merited
the name of the monster balloon.

How large was Nadar's Geant? Six thousand cubic
meters. How large was John Wise's balloon? Twenty
thousand cubic meters. How large was the Giffard balloon
at the 1878 Exhibition? Twenty-five thousand cubic
meters. Compare these three aerostats with the aerial ma-
chine of the Weldon Institute, whose volume amounted to
forty thousand cubic meters, and you will understand why
Uncle Prudent and his colleagues were so justifiably proud
of it.

This balloon not being destined for the exploration of
the higher strata of the atmosphere, was not called the
Excelsior, a name which is rather too much held in honor
among the citizens of America. No! It was called, sim-
ply, the Go-ahead, and all it had to do was to justify its
name by going ahead obediently to the wishes of its com-
mander.

The dynamo-electric machine, according to the patent
purchased by the Weldon Institute, was nearly ready. In
less than six weeks the Go-ahead would start for its first
cruise through space.

But, as we have seen, all the mechanical difficulties had
not been overcome. Many evenings had been devoted to
discussing, not the form of its screw nor its dimensions,
but whether it ought to be put behind, as the Tissandier
brothers had done, or before as Captains Krebs and Ren-
ard had done. It is unnecessary to add that the partisans
of the two systems had almost come to blows. The group
of " Beforists " were equaled in number by the group of
" Behindists." Uncle Prudent, who ought to have given

A VISITOR IS ANNOUNCED 17

the casting vote — Uncle Prudent, brought up doubtless in
the school of Professor Buridan — could not bring himself
to decide.

Hence the impossibility of getting the screw into place.
The dispute might last for some time, unless the govern-
ment interfered. But in the United States the government -
meddles with private affairs as little as it possibly can. And /
it is right. f

Things were in this state at this meeting on the 13th of'
June, which threatened to end in a riot — insults exchanged,
fisticuffs succeeding the insults, cane thrashings succeed-
ing the fisticuffs, revolver shots succeeding the cane thrash-
ings— when at thirty-seven minutes past eight there oc-
curred a diversion.

The porter of the Weldon Institute coolly and calmly,
like a policeman amid the storm of the meeting, approached
the presidential desk. On it he placed a card. He awaited
the orders that Uncle Prudent found it convenient to give.

Uncle Prudent turned on the steam whistle, which did
duty for the presidential bell, for even the Kremlin clock
would have struck in vain ! But the tumult slackened not.

Then the president removed his hat. Thanks to this ex-
treme measure a semi-silence was obtained.

" A communication ! " said Uncle Prudent, after taking
a huge pinch from the snuff-box which never left him.

" Speak up ! " answered eighty-nine voices, accidentally
in agreement on this one point.

" A stranger, my dear colleagues, asks to be admitted to
the meeting."

" Never ! " replied every voice.

" He desires to prove to us, it would appear," continued
Uncle Prudent, " that to believe in guiding balloons is to
believe in the absurdest of Utopias ! "

" Let him in ! Let him in ! "

"What is the name of this singular personage?" asked
secretary Phil Evans.

" Robur," replied Uncle Prudent.

" Robur ! Robur ! Robur ! " yelled the assembly. And
the welcome accorded so quickly to the curious name was
chiefly due to the Weldon Institute hoping to vent its ex-
asperation on the head of him who bore it!

V. XIV Verne

CHAPTER IV

IN WHICH A NEW CHARACTER APPEARS

" Citizens of the United States ! My name is Robur. I
am worthy of the name ! I am forty years old, although
I look but thirty, and I have a constitution of iron, a
healthy vigor that nothing can shake, a muscular strength
that few can equal, and a digestion that would be thought
first class even in an ostrich ! "

They were listening! Yes! The riot was quelled at
once by the totally unexpected fashion of the speech. Was
this fellow a madman or a hoaxer? Whoever he was, he
kept his audience in hand. There was not a whisper in
the meeting in which but a few minutes ago the storm was
in full fury.

And Robur looked the man he said he was. Of middle
height and geometric breadth, his figure was a regular
trapezium with the greatest of its parallel sides formed by
the line of his shoulders. On this line attached by a robust
neck there rose an enormous spheroidal head. The head
of what animal did it resemble from the point of view of
passional analogy? The head of a bull; but a bull with an
intelligent face. Eyes which at the least opposition would
glow like coals of fire'; and above them a permanent con-
traction of the superciliary muscle, an invariable sign of
extreme energy. Short hair, slightly woolly, with metallic
reflections ; large chest rising and falling like a smith's bel-
lows; arms, hands, legs, feet, all worthy of the trunk. No
mustaches, no whiskers, but a large American goatee, re-
vealing the attachments of the jaw whose masseter muscles
were evidently of formidable strength. It has been cal-
culated— what has not been calculated? — that the pressure
of the jaw of an ordinary crocodile can reach four hundred
atmospheres, while that of a hound can only amount to one
hundred. From this the following curious formula has
been deduced : — If a kilogram of dog produces eight kilo-
grams of masseteric force, a kilogram of crocodile could
produce twelve. Now, a kilogram of the aforesaid Robur
would not produce less than ten, so that he came between
the dog and the crocodile.

From what country did this remarkable specimen come?
It was difficult to say. One thing was noticeable, and that
was that he expressed himself fluently in English without

18

A NEW CHARACTER APPEARS 19

a trace of the drawling twang that distinguishes the Yan-
kees of New England.

He continued : " And now, honorable citizens, for my
mental faculties. You see before you an engineer whose
nerves are in no way inferior to his muscles. I have no
fear of anything or anybody. I have a strength of will
that has never had to yield. When I have decided on a
thing, all America, all the world, may strive in vain to keep
me from it. When I have an idea I allow no one to share
it, and I do not permit any contradiction. I insist on these
details, honorable citizens, because it is necessary you should
quite understand me. Perhaps you think I am talking too
much about myself? It does not matter if you do! And
now consider a little before you interrupt me, as I have
come to tell you something that you may not be particu-
larly pleased to hear."

A sound as of the surf on the beach began to rise along
the first row of seats — a sign that the sea would not be
long in getting stormy again.

" Speak, stranger ! " said Uncle Prudent, who had some
difficulty in restraining himself.

And Robur spoke as follows, without troubling himself
any more about his audience.

" Yes ! I know it well ! After a century of experi-
ments that have led to nothing, and trials giving no result,
there still exist ill-balanced minds who believe in guiding
balloons. They imagine that a motor of some sort, electric
or otherwise, might be applied to their pretentious skin
bags which are at the mercy of every current in the atmos-
phere. They persuade themselves that they can be masters
of an aerostat as they can be masters of a ship on the sur-
face of the sea. Because a few inventors in calm or nearly
calm weather have succeeded in working on an angle with
the wind, or even beating to windward in a gentle breeze,
they think that the steering of aerial apparatus lighter than
the air is a practicable matter. Well, now, look here;
You hundred, who believe in the realization of your dreams,
are throwing your thousands of dollars not into water but
into space ! You are fighting the impossible ! "

Strange it was that at this affirmation the members of
the Weldon Institute did not move. Had they become as
deaf as they were patient? Or were they reserving them-

20 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

selves to see how far this audacious contradictor would dare
to go?

Robur continued: "What? A balloon! When to ob-
tain the raising of a couple of pounds you require a cubic
yard of gas. A balloon pretending to resist the wind by
aid of its mechanism, when the pressure of a light breeze
on a vessel's sails is not less than that of four hundred
horsepower; when in the accident at the Tay Bridge you
saw the storm produce a pressure of eight and a half hun-
dredweight on a square yard. A balloon, when on such
a system nature has never constructed anything flying,
whether furnished with wings like birds, or membranes
like certain fish, or certain mammalia "

" Mammalia? " exclaimed one of the members.

"Yes! Mammalia! The bat, which flies, if I am not
mistaken! Is the gentleman unaware that this flyer is a
mammal? Did he ever see an omelette made of bat's
eggs?"

The interrupter reserved himself for future interrup-
tion, and Robur resumed : " But does that mean that man
is to give up the conquest of the air, and the transformation
of the domestic and political manners of the old world, by
the use of this admirable means of locomotion? By no
means. As he has become master of the seas with the ship,
by the oar, the sail, the wheel, and the screw, so shall he
become master of atmospherical space by apparatus heavier
than the air — for it must be heavier to be stronger than
the air ! "

And then the assembly exploded. What a broadside of
yells escaped from all these mouths, aimed at Robur like
the muzzles of so many guns! Was not this hurling a
declaration of war into the very camp of the balloonists?
Was not this a stirring up of strife between " the lighter "
and "the heavier" than air?

Robur did not even frown. With folded arms he waited
bravely till silence was obtained.

By a gesture Uncle Prudent ordered the firing to cease.

"Yes," continued Robur, "the future is for the flying
machine. The air affords a solid fulcrum. If you will
give a column of air an ascensional movement of forty-five
meters a second, a man can support himself on the top of
it if the soles of his boots have a superficies of only the

A NEW CHARACTER APPEARS 21

eighth of a square meter. And if the speed be increased to
ninety meters, he can walk on it with naked feet. Or if,
by means of a screw, you drive a mass of air at this speed,
you get the same result."

What Robur said had been said before by all the par-
tisans of aviation, whose work slowly but surely is leading
on to the solution of the problem. To Ponton d'Amecourt,
La Landelle, Nadar, De Luzy, De Louvrie, Liais, Beleguir,
Moreau, the brothers Richard, Babinet, Jobert, Du Temple,
Salives, Penaud, De Villeneuve, Gauchot and Tatin, Michel
Loup, Edison, Planavergne, and so many others, belongs
the honor of having brought forward ideas of such sim-
plicity. Abandoned and resumed times without number,
they are sure some day to triumph. To the enemies of
aviation, who urge that the bird only sustains himself by
warming the air he strikes, their answer is ready. Have
they not proved that an eagle weighing five kilograms
would have to fill fifty cubic meters with his warm fluid
merely to sustain himself in space?

This is what Robur demonstrated with undeniable logic
amid the uproar that arose on all sides. And in conclusion
these are the words he hurled in the faces of the balloon-
ists: "With your aerostats you can do nothing — you will
arrive at nothing — you dare do nothing! The boldest of
your aeronauts, John Wise, although he has made an aerial
voyage of twelve hundred miles above the American conti-
nent, has had to give up his project of crossing the At-
lantic! And you have not advanced a step — not one step
■ — towards your end."

" Sir," said the president, who in vain endeavored to
keep himself cool, " you forget what was said by our im-
mortal Franklin at the first appearance of the fire balloon,
' It is but a child, but it will grow ! ' It was but a child,
and it has grown."

" No, Mr. President, it has not grown ! It has got fatter
— and that is not the same thing! "

This was a direct attack on the Weldon Institute, which
had decreed, helped, and paid for the making of a monster
balloon. And so propositions of the following kind be-
gan to fly about the room : " Turn him out ! " " Throw
him off the platform!" "Prove that he is heavier than
the air ! "

22 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

But these were only words, not means to an end.

Robur remained impassible, and continued : " There is no
progress for your aerostats, my citizen balloonists ; progress
is for flying machines. The bird flies, and he is not a bal-
loon, he is a piece of mechanism!"

" Yes, he flies ! " exclaimed the fiery Bat. T. Fynn ; " but
he flies against all the laws of mechanics."

" Indeed ! " said Robur, shrugging his shoulders, and re-
suming, " Since we have begun the study of the flight of
large and small birds one simple idea has prevailed — to
imitate nature, which never makes mistakes. Between the
albatross, which gives hardly ten beats of the wing per
minute, between the pelican, which gives seventy "

" Seventy-one," said the voice of a scoffer.

" And the bee, which gives one hundred and ninety-two
per second "

" One hundred and ninety-three ! " said the facetious in-
dividual.

" And the common house fly, which gives three hundred
and thirty "

"And a half!"

"And the mosquito, which gives millions "

" No, milliards ! "

But Robur, the interrupted, interrupted not his demon-
stration. " Between these different rates " he con-
tinued.

"There is a difference," said a voice.

"There is a possibility of finding a practical solution.
When De Lucy showed that the stag beetle, an insect
weighing only two grammes, could lift a weight of four
hundred" grammes, or two hundred times its own weight,
the problem of aviation was solved. Besides, it has been
shown that the wing surface decreases in proportion to the
increase of the size and weight of the animal. Hence we
can look forward to such contrivances "

" Which would never fly ! " said secretary Phil Evans.

" Which have flown, and which will fly," said Robur,
without being in the least disconcerted, " and which we
can call streophores, helicopters, orthopters — or, in imita-
tion of the word ' nef,' which comes from ' navis,' call them
from ' avis,' ' efs,' — by means of which man will become
the master of space. The helix "

A NEW CHARACTER APPEARS 23

"Ah, the helix!" replied Phil Evans. "But the bird
has no helix ; that we know ! "

" So," said Robur; "but Penaud has shown that in real-
ity the bird makes a helix, and its flight is helicopteral.

And the motor of the future is the screw "

" From such a maladee
Saint Helix keep us free ! "
sung out one of the members, who had accidentally hit
upon the air from Herold's Zampa.

And they all took up the chorus :
" From such a maladee
Saint Helix keep us free!"
with such intonations and variations as would have made
the French composer groan in his grave.

As the last notes died away in a frightful discord Uncle
Prudent took advantage of the momentary calm to say,
" Stranger, up to now, we let you speak without interrup-
tion."

It seemed that for the president of the Weldon Institute
shouts, yells, and catcalls were not interruptions, but only
an exchange of arguments.

" But I may remind you, all the same, that the theory of
aviation is condemned beforehand, and rejected by the ma-
jority of American and foreign engineers. It is a system
which was the cause of the death of the Flying Saracen at
Constantinople, of the monk Volador at Lisbon, of De
Leturn in 1852, of De Groof in 1864, besides the victims I
forget since the mythological Icarus "

" A system," replied Robur, " no more to be condemned
than that whose martyrology contains the names of Pilatre
de Rozier at Calais, of Blanchard at Paris, of Donaldson
and Grimwood in Lake Michigan, of Sivel and of Croce-
Spinelli, and others whom it takes good care to forget."

This was a counter-thrust with a vengeance.

" Besides," continued Robur, " with your balloons as
good as you can make them you will never obtain any
speed worth mentioning. It would take you ten years to
go round the world — and a flying machine could do it in a
week ! "

Here arose a new tempest of protests and denials, which
lasted for three long minutes. And then Phil Evans took
up the word.

34 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

" Mr. Aviator," he said, " you who talk so much of the
benefits of aviation, have you ever aviated?"

" I have."

"And made the conquest of the air?"

" Not unlikely."

" Hooray for Robur the Conqueror ! " shouted an iron-
ical voice.

" Well, yes ! Robur the Conqueror ! I accept the name
and I will bear it, for I have a right to it."

"We beg to doubt it!" said Jem Chip.

" Gentlemen," said Robur, and his brows knit, " when I
have just seriously stated a serious thing I do not permit
anyone to reply to me by a flat denial, and I shall be glad
to know the name of the interrupter."

" My name is Chip, and I am a vegetarian."

" Citizen Chip," said Robur, " I knew that vegetarians
had longer alimentary canals than other men — a good foot
longer at the least. That is quite long enough; and so do
not compel me to make yours any longer by beginning at
your ears and "

" Throw him out."

"Into the street with him!"

"Lynch him!"

"Helix him!"

The rage of the balloonists burst forth at last.

They rushed at the platform. Robur disappeared amid
a sheaf of hands that were thrown about as if caught in
a storm. In vain the steam whistle screamed its fanfares
on to the assembly. Philadelphia might well think that a
fire was devouring one of its quarters and that all the
waters of the Schuylkill could not put it out.

Suddenly there was a recoil in the tumult. Robur had
put his hands into his pockets and now held them out at
the front ranks of the infuriated mob.

In each hand was one of those American institutions
known as revolvers which the mere pressure of the fingers
is enough to fire — pocket mitrailleuses in fact.

And taking advantage not only of the recoil of his as-
sailants but also of the silence which accompanied it,

" Decidedly," said he, " it was not Amerigo that discov-
ered the New World, it was Cabot! You are not Amer-
icans, citizen balloonists! You are only Cabo "

A NEW CHARACTER APPEARS 25

Four or five pistol shots cracked out, fired into space.
They hurt nobody. Amid the smoke the engineer van-
ished; and when it had thinned away there was no trace
of him. Robur the Conqueror had flown, as if some ap-
paratus of aviation had borne him into the air.

CHAPTER V

ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE

This was not the first occasion on which, at the end of
their stormy discussions, the members of the Weldon In-
stitute had filled Walnut Street and its neighborhood with
their tumult. Several times had the inhabitants com-
plained of the noisy way in which the proceedings ended,
and more than once had the policemen had to interfere
to clear the thoroughfare for the passersby, who for the
most part were supremely indifferent on this question of
aerial navigation. But never before had the tumult at-
tained such proportions, never had the complaints been
better founded, never had the intervention of the police
been more necessary.

But there was some excuse for the members of the Wel-
don Institute. They had been attacked in their own house.
To these enthusiasts for " lighter than air " a no less en-
thusiast for " heavier than air " had said things absolutely
abhorrent. And at the moment they were about to treat
him as he deserved, he had disappeared.

So they cried aloud for vengeance. To leave such in-
sults unpunished was impossible to all with American blood
in their veins. Had not the sons of Amerigo been called
the sons of Cabot? Was not that an insult as unpardon-
able as it happened to be just — historically?

The members of the club in several groups rushed down
Walnut Street, then into the adjoining streets, and then
all over the neighborhood. They woke up the house-
holders; they compelled them to search their houses, pre-
pared to indemnify them later on for the outrage on their
privacy. Vain were all their trouble and searching. Robur
was nowhere to be found ; there was no trace of him. He
might have gone off in the Go-ahead, the balloon of the
Institute, for all they could tell. After an hour's hunt the

26 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

members had to give in and separate, not before they had
agreed to extend their search over the whole territory of
the twin Americas that form the new continent.

By eleven o'clock quiet had been restored in the neigh-
borhood of Walnut Street. Philadelphia was able to sink
again into that sound sleep which is the privilege of non-
manufacturing towns. The different members of the club
parted to seek their respective houses. To mention the
most distinguished amongst them, William T. Forbes
sought his large sugar establishment, where Miss Doll and
Miss Mat had prepared for him his evening tea, sweetened
with his own glucose. Truck Milnor took the road to his
factory in the distant suburb, where the engines worked
day and night. Treasurer Jim Chip, publicly accused of
possessing an alimentary canal twelve inches longer than
that of other men, returned to the vegetable soup that was
waiting for him.

Two of the most important balloonists — two only — did
not seem to think of returning so soon to their domicile.
They availed themselves of the opportunity to discuss the
question with more than usual acrimony. These were the
. irreconcilables, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, the presi-
dent and secretary of the Weldon Institute.

At the door of the club the valet Frycollin waited for
Uncle Prudent, his master, and at last he went after him,
though he cared but little for the subject which had set the
two colleagues at loggerheads.

It is only by an euphemism that the verb " discuss " can
be used to express the way in which the duet between the
president and secretary was being performed. As a mat-
ter of fact they were in full wrangle with an energy born
of their old rivalry.

"No, sir, no," said Phil Evans. "If I had had the
honor of being president of the Weldon Institute, there
never, no, never, would have been such a scandal."

" And what would you have done, if you had had the
honor?" demanded Uncle Prudent.

" I would have stopped the insulter before he had opened
his mouth."

" It seems to me it would have been impossible to stop
him until he had opened his mouth," replied Uncle
Prudent.

ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE 27

" Not in America, sir; not in America."

And exchanging such observations, increasing in bitter-
ness as they went, they walked on through the streets far-
ther and farther from their homes, until they reached a part
of the city whence they had to go a long way round to
get back.

Frycollin followed, by no means at ease to see his master
plunging into such deserted spots. He did not like de-
serted spots, particularly after midnight. In fact the dark-
ness was profound and the moon was only a thin crescent
just beginning its monthly life. Frycollin kept a lookout
to the left and right of him to see if he was followed. And
he fancied he could see five or six hulking fellows dogging
his footsteps. Instinctively he drew nearer to his master,
but not for the world would he have dared to break in on
the conversation of which the fragments reached him.

In short it so chanced that the president and secretary
of the Weldon Institute found themselves on the road to
Fairmount Park. In the full heat of their dispute they
crossed the Schuylkill river by the famous iron bridge.
They met only a few belated wayfarers, and pressed on
across a wide open tract where the immense prairie was
broken every now and then by the patches of thick wood-
land which make the park different to any other in the
world.

There Frycollin's terror became acute, particularly as he
saw the five or six shadows gliding after him across the
Schuylkill bridge. The pupils of his eyes broadened out
to the circumference of his iris, and his limbs seemed to
diminish as if endowed with the contractility peculiar to
the mollusca and certain of the articulata; for Frycollin,
the valet, was an egregious coward.

He was a pure South Carolina negro, with the head of a
fool and the carcase of an imbecile. Being only one and
twenty, he had never been a slave, not even by birth, but
that made no difference to him. Grinning and greedy and
idle, and a magnificent poltroon, he had been the servant
of Uncle Prudent for about three years. Over and over
again had his master threatened to kick him out, but had
kept him on for fear of doing worse. With a master ever
ready to venture on the most audacious enterprises, Fry-
collin's cowardice had brought him many arduous trials.

28 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR.

But he had some compensation. Very little had been said
about his gluttony, and still less about his laziness.

Ah, Valet Frycollin, if you could only have read the
future! Why, oh why, Frycollin, did you not remain at
Boston with the Sneffels, and not have given them up when
they talked of going to Switzerland? Was not that a much
more suitable place for you than this of Uncle Prudent' s,
where danger was daily welcomed?

But here he was, and his master had become used to his
faults. He had one advantage, and that was a considera-
tion. Although he was a negro by birth he did not speak
like a negro, and nothing is so irritating as that hateful
jargon in which all the pronouns are possessive and all the
verbs infinitive. Let it be understood, then, that Fry-
collin was a thorough coward.

And now it was midnight, and the pale crescent of the
moon began to sink in the west behind the trees in the
park. The rays streaming fitfully through the branches
made the shadows darker than ever. Frycollin looked
around him anxiously. " Brrr ! " he said, " there are those
fellows there all the time. Positively they are getting
nearer! Master Uncle! " he shouted.

It was thus he called the president of the Weldon In-
stitute, and thus did the president desire to be called.

At the moment the dispute of the rivals had reached its
maximum, and as they hurled their epithets at each other
they walked faster and faster, and drew farther and farther
away from the Schuylkill bridge. They had reached the
center of a wide clump of trees, whose summits were just
tipped by the parting rays of the moon. Beyond the trees
was a very large clearing — an oval field, a complete
amphitheater. Not a hillock was there to hinder the gal-
lop of the horses, not a bush to stop the view of the
spectators.

And if Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans had not been so
deep in their dispute, and had used their eyes as they were
accustomed to, they would have found the clearing was not
in its usual state. Was it a flour mill that had anchored
on it during the night? It looked like it, with its wings
and sails — motionless and mysterious in the gathering
gloom.

But neither the president nor the secretary of the Wei-

ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE 29

don Institute noticed the strange modification in the land-
scape of Fairmount Park; and neither did Frycollin. It
seemed to him that the thieves were approaching, and
preparing for their attack; and he was seized with con-
vulsive fear, paralyzed in his limbs, with every hair he
could boast of on the bristle. His terror was extreme.
His knees bent under him, but he had just strength enough
to exclaim for the last time, " Master Uncle ! Master
Uncle!"

"What is the matter with you?" asked Uncle Prudent.
Perhaps the disputants would not have been sorry to have
relieved their fury at the expense of the unfortunate valet.
But they had no time ; and neither even had he time to an-
swer.

A whistle was heard. A flash of electric light shot across
the clearing.

A signal, doubtless? The moment had come for the
deed of violence! In less time that it takes to tell, six men
came leaping across from under the trees, two onto Uncle
Prudent, two onto Phil Evans, two onto Frycollin — there
was no need for the two last, for the negro was incapable
of defending himself. The president and secretary of the
Weldon Institute, although taken by surprise, would have
resisted.

They had neither time nor strength to do so. In a sec-
ond they were rendered speechless by a gag, blind by a
bandage, thrown down, pinioned and carried bodily off
across the clearing. What could they think except that
they had fallen into the hands of people who intended to
rob them? The people did nothing of the sort, however.
They did not even touch Uncle Prudent's pockets, al-
though, according to his custom, they were full of paper
dollars.

Within a minute of the attack, without a word being
passed, Uncle Prudent, Phil Evans, and Frycollin felt them-
selves laid gently down, not on the grass, but on a sort of
plank that creaked beneath them. They were laid down
side by side.

A door was shut; and the grating of a bolt in a staple
told them that they were prisoners.

Then there came a continuous buzzing, a quivering, a
frrrr, with the rrr unending.

30 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

And that was the only sound that broke the quiet of the
night.

Great was the excitement next morning in Philadelphia !
Very early was it known what had passed at the meeting
of the Institute. Everyone knew of the appearance of the
mysterious engineer named Robur — Robur the Conqueror
— and the tumult among the balloonists, and his inexpli-
cable disappearance.

But it was quite another thing when all the town heard
that the president and secretary of the club had also dis-
appeared during the night.

Long and keen was the search in the city and neighbor-
hood! Useless! The newspapers of Philadelphia, the
newspapers of Pennsylvania, the newspapers of the United
States reported the facts and explained them in a hundred
ways, not one of which was the right one. Heavy rewards
were offered, and placards were pasted up, but all to no
purpose. The earth seemed to have opened and bodily
swallowed the president and secretary of the Weldon In-
stitute.

CHAPTER VI

THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY SUSPEND HOSTILITIES

A bandage over the eyes, a gag in the mouth, a cord
round the wrists, a cord round the ankles, unable to see, to
speak, or to move, Uncle Prudent, Phil Evans, and Fry-
collin were anything but pleased with their position. Know-
ing not who had seized them, nor in what they had been
thrown like parcels in a goods wagon, nor where they were,
nor what was reserved for them — it was enough to exas-
perate even the most patient of the ovine race, and we
know that the members of the Weldon Institute were not
precisely sheep as far as patience went. With his violence
of character we can easily imagine how Uncle Prudent
felt One thing was evident, that Phil Evans and he
would find it difficult to attend the club next evening.

As to Frycollin, with his eyes shut and his mouth closed,
it was impossible for him to think of anything. He was
more dead than alive.

For an hour the position of the prisoners remained un-

THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY 31

changed. No one came to visit them, or to give them
that liberty of movement and speech of which they lay in
such need. They were reduced to stifled sighs, to grunts
emitted over and under their gags, to everything that be-
trayed anger kept dumb and fury imprisoned, or rather
bound down. Then after many fruitless efforts they re-
mained for some time as though lifeless. Then as the
sense of sight was denied them they tried by their sense
of hearing to obtain some indication of the nature of this
disquieting state of things. But in vain did they seek for
any other sound than an interminable and inexplicable
f-r-r-r which seemed to envelop them in a quivering at-
mosphere.

At last something happened. Phil Evans, regaining his
coolness, managed to slacken the cord which bound his
wrists. Little by little the knot slipped, his fingers slipped
over each other, and his hands regained their usual freedom.

A vigorous rubbing restored the circulation. A moment
after he had slipped off the bandage which bound his eyes,
taken the gag out of his mouth, and cut the cords round
his ankles with his knife. An American who has not a
bowie-knife in his pocket is no longer an American.

But if Phil Evans had regained the power of moving
and speaking, that was all. His eyes were useless to him
— at present at any rate. The prison was quite dark,
though about six feet above him a feeble gleam of light
came in through a kind of loophole.

As may be imagined, Phil Evans did not hesitate to at
once set free his rival. A few cuts with the bowie settled
the knots which bound him foot and hand.

Immediately Uncle Prudent rose to his knees and
snatched away his bandage and his gag.

" Thanks," said he, in stifled voice.

" No ! " said the other, " no thanks."

"Phil Evans?"

"Uncle Prudent?"

" Here we are no longer the president and secretary of
the Weldon Institute. We are adversaries no more."

" You are right," answered Evans. " We are now only
two men agreed to avenge ourselves on a third whose at-
tempt deserves severe reprisals. And this third is "

"Robur!"

32 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

"It is Robur!"

On this point both were absolutely in accord. On this
subject there was no fear of dispute.

"And your servant?" said Phil Evans, pointing to
Frycollin, who was puffing like a grampus. " We must
set him free."

" Not yet," said Uncle Prudent. " He would overwhelm
us with his jeremiads, and we have something else to do
than abuse each other."

"What is that, Uncle Prudent?"

" To save ourselves if possible."

" And even if it is impossible."

"You are right; even if it is impossible."

There could be no doubt that this kidnapping was due
to Robur, for an ordinary thief would have relieved them
of their watches, jewelry, and purses, and thrown their
bodies into the Schuylkill with a good gash in their throats

instead of throwing them to the bottom of Of what?

That was a serious question, which would have to be an-
swered before attempting an escape with any chance of suc-
cess.

" Phil Evans," began Uncle Prudent, " if, when we came
away from our meeting, instead of indulging in amenities
to which we need not recur, we had kept our eyes more open,
this would not have happened. Had we remained in the
streets of Philadelphia there would have been none of
this. Evidently Robur foresaw what would happen at the
club, and had placed some of his bandits on guard at the
door. When we left Walnut Street these fellows must
have watched us and followed us, and when we impru-
dently ventured into Fairmount Park they went in for their
little game."

" Agreed," said Evans. " We were wrong not to go
straight home."

" It is always wrong not to be right," said Prudent.

Here a long-drawn sigh escaped from the darkest corner
of the prison. " What is that ? " asked Evans.

" Nothing ! Frycollin is dreaming."

"Between the moment we were seized a few steps out
into the clearing and the moment we were thrown in here
only two minutes elapsed. It is thus evident that these
people did not take us out of Fairmount Park."

THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY 33

* And if they had done so we should have felt we were
being moved."

"Undoubtedly; and consequently we must be in some
vehicle, perhaps some of those long prairie wagons, or
some show-caravan "

"Evidently! For if we were in a boat moored on the
Schuylkill we should have noticed the movement due to
the current "

" That is so ; and as we are still in the clearing, I think
that now is the time to get away, and we can return later to
settle with this Robur "

"And make him pay for this attempt on the liberty of
two citizens of the United States."

" And he shall pay pretty dearly ! "

"But who is this man? Where does he come from?
Is he English, or German, or French "

" He is a scoundrel, that is enough !" said Uncle Prudent.
"Now to work." And then the two men, with their
hands stretched out and their fingers wide apart, began to
feel round the walls to find a joint or crack.

Nothing. Nothing; not even at the door. It was closely
shut and it was impossible to shoot back the lock. All that
could be done was to make a hole, and escape through the
hole. It remained to be seen if the knives could cut into
the walls.

"But whence comes this never-ending rustling?" asked
Evans, who was much impressed at the continuous f-r-r-r.

" The wind, doubtless," said Uncle Prudent.

" The wind ! But I thought the night was quite calm."

" So it was. But if it isn't the wind, what can it be?"

Phil Evans got out the best blade of his knife and set to
work on the wall near the door. Perhaps he might make
a hole which would enable him to open it from the outside
should it be only bolted or should the key have been left
in the lock.

He worked away for some minutes. The only result
was to nip up his knife, to snip off its point, and transform
what was left of the blade into a saw.

" Doesn't it cut? " asked Uncle Prudent.

" No."

" Is the wall made of sheet iron ? "

" No ; it gives no metallic sound when you hit it."

y. XIV Verne

34 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

" Is it of ironwood ? "

" No ; it isn't iron and it isn't wood."
"What is it then?"

" Impossible to say. But, anyhow, steel doesn't touch it."

Uncle Prudent, in a sudden outburst of fury, began to
rave and stamp on the sonorous planks, while his hands
sought to strangle an imaginary Robur.

" Be calm, Prudent, be calm! You have a try."

Uncle Prudent had a try, but the bowie-knife could do
nothing against a wall which its best blades could not even
scratch. The wall seemed to be made of crystal.

So it became evident that all flight was impracticable
except through the door, and for a time they must resign
themselves to their fate — not a very pleasant thing for the
Yankee temperament, and very much to the disgust of these
eminently practical men. But this conclusion was not ar-
rived at without many objurgations and loud-sounding
phrases hurled at this Robur — who, from what had been
seen of him at the Weldon Institute, was not the sort of
man to trouble himself much about them.

Suddenly Frycollin began to give unequivocal signs of
being unwell. He began to writhe in a most lamentable
fashion, either with cramp in his stomach or in his limbs;
and Uncle Prudent, thinking it his duty to put an end to
these gymnastics, cut the cords that bound him.

He had cause to be sorry for it. Immediately there was
poured forth an interminable litany, in which the terrors of
fear were mingled with the tortures of hunger. Frycollin
was no worse in his brain than in his stomach, and it would
have been difficult to decide to which organ the chief cause
of the trouble should be assigned.

" Frycollin ! " said Uncle Prudent.

" Master Uncle ! Master Uncle ! " answered the negro
between two of his lugubrious howls.

" It is possible that we are doomed to die of hunger in
this prison, but we have made up our minds not to suc-
cumb until we have availed ourselves of every means of
alimentation to prolong our lives."

" To eat me? " exclaimed Frycollin.

" As is always done with a negro under such circum-
stances! So you had better not make yourself too ob-
vious "

THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY 35

" Or you'll have your bones picked ! " said Evans.

And as Frycollin saw he might be used to prolong two
existences more precious than his own, he contented him-
self thenceforth with groaning in quiet.

The time went on, and all attempts to force the door or
get through the wall proved fruitless. What the wall was
made of was impossible to say. It was not metal; it was
not wood ; it was not stone. And all the cell seemed to be
made of the same stuff. When they stamped on the floor it
gave a peculiar sound that Uncle Prudent found it difficult
to describe; the floor seemed to sound hollow, as if it was
not resting directly on the ground of the clearing. And
the inexplicable f-r-r-r-r seemed to sweep along below it.
All of which was rather alarming.

" Uncle Prudent," said Phil Evans.

"Well?"

" Do you think our prison has been moved at all ? "

" Not that I know of."

" Because when we were first caught I distinctly remem-
ber the fresh fragrance of the grass and the resinous odor
of the park trees. While now, when I take in a good sniff
of the air, it seems as though all that had gone."

" So it has."

"Why?"

"We cannot say why unless we admit that the prison
has moved; and I say again that if the prison had moved,
either as a vehicle on the road or a boat on the stream, we
should have felt it."

Here Frycollin gave vent to a long groan, which might
have been taken for his last had he not followed it up with
several more.

" I expect Robur will soon have us brought before him,"
said Phil Evans.

"I hope so," said Uncle Prudent. "And I shall tell
him "

"What?"

" That he began by being rude and ended in being un-
bearable."

Here Phil Evans noticed that day was beginning to break.
A gleam, still faint, filtered through the narrow window
opposite the door. It ought thus to be about four o'clock
in the morning, for it is at that hour in the month of June

36 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

in this latitude that the horizon of Philadelphia is tinged
by the first rays of the dawn.

But when Uncle Prudent sounded his repeater — which
was a masterpiece from his colleague's factory — the tiny
gong only gave a quarter to three, and the watch had not
stopped.

" That is strange ! " said Phil Evans. " At a quarter to
three it ought still to be night."

" Perhaps my watch has got slow," answered Uncle
Prudent.

" A watch of the Wheelton Watch Company! " exclaimed
Phil Evans.

Whatever might be the reason, there was no doubt that
the day was breaking. Gradually the window became white
in the deep darkness of the cell. However, if the dawn
appeared sooner than the fortieth parallel permitted, it
did not advance with the rapidity peculiar to lower latitudes.
This was another observation of Uncle Prudent's — a new
inexplicable phenomenon.

" Couldn't we get up to the window and see where we
are?"

" We might," said Uncle Prudent. " Frycollin, get up ! "
The negro arose.

" Put your back against the wall," continued Prudent,
"and you, Evans, get on his shoulders while I buttress
him up."

"Right!" said Evans.

An instant afterwards his knees were on Frycollin's
shoulders, and his eyes were level with the window. The
window was not of lenticular glass like those on shipboard,
but was a simple flat pane. It was small, and Phil Evans
found his range of view was much limited.

" Break the glass," said Prudent, " and perhaps you will
be able to see better."

Phil Evans gave it a sharp knock with the handle of his
bowie-knife. It gave back a silvery sound, but it did not
break.

Another and more violent blow. The same result.
" It is unbreakable glass ! " said Evans.
It appeared as though the pane was made of glass tough-
ened on the Siemens system, as after several blows it re-
mained intact.

THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY 37

The light had now increased, and Phil Evans could see
for some distance within the radius allowed by the frame.

" What do you see ? " asked Uncle Prudent.

" Nothing."

"What? Not any trees?"

" No."

" Not even the top branches? "

" No."

" Then we are not in the clearing? "

" Neither in the clearing nor in the park."

"Don't you see any roofs of houses or monuments?"
said Prudent, whose disappointment and anger were increas-
ing rapidly.

" No."

"What! Not a flagstaff, nor a church tower, nor a
chimney ? "

" Nothing but space."

As he uttered the words the door opened. A man ap-
peared on the threshold. It was Robur.

" Honorable balloonists ! " he said, in a serious voice,
" you are now free to go and come as you like."

" Free ! " exclaimed Uncle Prudent.

" Yes — within the limits of the Albatross ! "

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans rushed out of their prison.
And what did they see?

Four thousand feet below them the face of a country
they sought in vain to recognize.

CHAPTER VII

ON BOARD THE ALBATROSS

" When will man cease to crawl in the depths to live in
the azure and quiet of the sky? "

To this question of Camille Flammarion's the answer is
easy. It will be when the progress of mechanics has enabled
us to solve the problem of aviation. And in a few years —
as we can foresee — a more practical^ utilization of elec-
tricity will do much towards that solution.

In 1783, before the Montgolfier brothers had built their
fire-balloon, and Charles, the physician, had devised his first
aerostat, a few adventurous spirits had dreamt of the con-

38 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

quest of space by mechanical means. The first inventors did
not think of apparatus lighter than air; for that the science
of their time did not allow them to imagine. It was to con-
trivances heavier than air, to flying machines in imitation of
the birds, that they trusted to realize aerial locomotion.

This was exactly what had been done by that madman
Icarus, the son of Daedalus, whose wings, fixed together
.with wax, had melted as they approached the sun.

But without going back to mythological times, without
dwelling on Archytas of Tarentum, we find in the works
of Dante of Perugia, of Leonardo da Vinci and Guidotti, the
idea of machines made to move through the air. Two cen-
turies and a half afterwards inventors began to multiply.
In 1742 the Marquis de Bacqueville designed a system of
wings, tried it over the Seine, and fell and broke his arm.
In 1768 Paucton conceived the idea of an apparatus with
two screws, suspensive and propulsive. In 1781 Meerwein,
the architect of the Prince of Baden, built an orthopteric
machine, and protested against the tendency of the aerostats
which had just been invented. In 1784 Launoy and Bien-
venu had maneuvered a helicopter worked by springs. In
1808 there were the attempts at flight by the Austrian
Jacques Degen. In 1810 came the pamphlet by Deniau of
Nantes, in which the principles of " heavier than air " are
laid down. From 181 1 to 1840 came the inventions and
researches of Derblinger, Vigual, Sarti, Dubochet, and
Cagniard de La tour. In 1842 we have the Englishman
Henson, with his system of inclined planes and screws
worked by steam. In 1845 came Cossus and his ascensional
screws. In 1847 came Camille Vert and his helicopter made
of birds' wings. In 1852 came Letur with his system of
guidable parachutes, whose trial cost him his life; and in the
same year came Michel Loup with his plan of gliding
through the air on four revolving wings. In 1853 came
Beleguic and his aeroplane with the traction screws, Vaus-
sin-Chardannes with his guidable kite, and George Cauley
with his flying-machines driven by gas. From 1854 to 1863
appeared Joseph Pline with several patents for aerial sys-
tems. Breant, Carlingford, Le Bris, Du Temple, Bright,
whose ascensional screws were left-handed; Smythies, Pana-
fieu, Crosnier, &c. At length, in 1863, thanks to the efforts
of Nadar, a society of " heavier than air " was founded

ON BOARD THE ALBATROSS 39

in Paris. There the inventors could experiment with the
machines, of which many were patented. Ponton d'Ame-
eourt and his steam helicopter, La Landelle and his system
of combining screws with inclined planes and parachutes,
Louvrie and his aeroscape, Esterno and his mechanical
bird, Groof and his apparatus with wings worked by levers.
The impetus was given, inventors invented, calculators cal-
culated all that could render aerial locomotion practicable.
Bourcart, Le Bris, Kaufmann, Smyth, Stringfellow,
Prigent, Danjard, Pomes and De la Pauze, Moy, Penaud,
Jobert, Haureau de Villeneuve, Achenbach, Garapon, Du-
chesne, Danduran, Parisel, Dieuaide, Melkiseff, Forlanini,
Bearey, Tatin, Dandrieux, Edison, some with wings or
screws, others with inclined planes, imagined, created, con-
structed, perfected, their flying machines, ready to do their
work, once there came to be applied to them by some in-
ventor a motor of adequate power and excessive lightness.

This list may be a little long, but that witt be forgiven,
for it is necessary to give the various steps in the ladder
of aerial locomotion, on the top of which appeared Robur
the Conqueror. Without these attempts, these experiments
of his predecessors, how could the inquirer have conceived
so perfect an apparatus ? And though he had but contempt
for those who obstinately worked away in the direction of
balloons, he held in high esteem all those partisans _ of
"heavier than air," English, American, Italian, Austrian,
French — and particularly French — whose work had been
perfected by him, and led him to design and then to build
this flying engine known as the Albatross, which he was
•guiding through the currents of the atmosphere.

" The pigeon flies ! " had exclaimed one of the most per-
sistent adepts at aviation.

"They will crowd the air as they crowd the earth!"
said one of his most excited partisans.

"From the locomotive to the aeromotive!" shouted the
noisiest of all, who had turned on the trumpet of publicity
to awaken the Old and New Worlds.

Nothing, in fact, is better established, by experiment and
calculation, than that the air is highly resistant. A circum-
ference of only a yard in diameter in the shape of a para-
chute can not only impede descent in air, but can render it
isochronous. That is a fact.

40 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

It is equally well known that when the speed is great
the work of the weight varies in almost inverse ratio to
the square of the speed, and therefore becomes almost insig-
nificant.

It is also known that as the weight of a flying animal in-
creases, the less is the proportional increase in the surface
beaten by the wings in order to sustain it, although the
motion of the wings becomes slower.

A flying machine must therefore be constructed to take
advantage of these natural laws, to imitate the bird, " that
admirable type of aerial locomotion," according to Dr.
Marcy, of the Institute of France.

In short, the contrivances likely to solve the problem
are of three kinds : —

i. Helicopters or spiralifers, which are simply screws
with vertical axes.

2. Orthopters, machines which endeavour to reproduce
the natural flight of birds.

3. Aeroplanes, which are merely inclined planes like kites,
but towed or driven by screws.

Each of these systems has had and still has its partisans
obstinately resolved to give way in not the slightest par-
ticular.

However, Robur, for many reasons, had rejected the two
first.

The orthopter, or mechanical bird, offers certain advan-
tages, no doubt. That the work and experiments of M.
Renard in 1884 have sufficiently proved. But, as has been
said, it is not necessary to copy Nature servilely. Locomo-
tives are not copied from the hare, nor are ships copied
from the fish. To the first we have put wheels which are
not legs; to the second we have put screws which are not
fins. And they do not do so badly. Besides, what is this
mechanical movement in the flight of birds, whose action is
so complex? Has not Doctor Marcy suspected that the
feathers open during the return of the wings so as to let
the air through them? And is not that rather a difficult
operation for an artificial machine?

On the other hand, aeroplanes have given many good
results. Screws opposing a slanting plane to the bed of air
will produce an ascensional movement, and the models ex-
perimented on have shown that the disposable weight, that

ON BOARD THE ALBATROSS 41

is to say, the weight it is possible to deal with as distinct
from that of the apparatus, increases with the square of
the speed. Herein the aeroplane has the advantage over
the aerostat even when the aerostat is furnished with the
means of locomotion.

Nevertheless Robur had thought that the simpler his
contrivance the better. And the screws — the Saint Helices
that had been thrown in his teeth at the Weldon Institute —
had sufficed for all the needs of his flying machine. One
series could hold it suspended in the air, the other could
drive it along under conditions that were marvelously
adapted for speed and safety.

If the orthopter — striking like the wings of a bird — *
raised itself by beating the air, the helicopter raised itself by
striking the air obliquely with the fins of the screw as it
mounted on an inclined plane. These fins, or arms, are in
reality wings, but wings disposed as a helix instead of as a
paddle wheel. The helix advances in the direction of its
axis. Is the axis vertical? Then it moves vertically. Is
the axis horizontal ? Then it moves horizontally.

The whole of Robur's flying apparatus depended on these
two movements, as will be seen from the following de-
tailed description, which can be divided under three heads — *
the platform, the engines of suspension and propulsion,
and the machinery.

Platform. — This was a framework a hundred feet long
and twelve wide, a ship's deck in fact, with a projecting
prow. Beneath was a hull solidly built, enclosing the en-
gines, stores, and provisions of all sorts, including the water-
tanks. Round the deck a few light uprights supported a
wire trellis that did duty for bulwarks. On the deck were
three houses, whose compartments were used as cabins for
the crew, or as machine-rooms. In the center house was
the machine which drove the suspensory helices, in that
forward was the machine that drove the bow screw, in that
aft was the machine that drove the stern screw. In the
bow were the cook's galley and the crew's quarters ; in the
stern were several cabins, including that of the engineer, the
saloon, and above them all a glass house in which stood the
helmsman, who steered the vessel by means of a powerful
rudder. All these cabins were lighted by portholes filled
with toughened glass, which has ten times the resistance of

42 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

ordinary glass. Beneath the hull was a system of flexible
springs to ease off the concussion when it became advisable
to land.

Engines of suspension and propulsion. — Above the deck
rose thirty-seven vertical axes, fifteen along each side, and
seven, more elevated, in the centre. The Albatross might
be called a clipper with thirty-seven masts. But these masts
instead of sails bore each two horizontal screws, not very
large in spread or diameter, but driven at prodigious speed.
Each of these axes had its movement independent of the
rest, and each alternate one spun round in a different direc-
tion from the others, so as to avoid any tendency to gyra-
tion. Hence the screws as they rose on the vertical column
of air retained their equilibrium by their horizontal resis-
tance. Consequently the apparatus was furnished with
seventy-four suspensory screws, whose three branches were
connected by a metallic circle which economized their motive
force. In front and behind, mounted on horizontal axes,
were two propelling screws, each with four arms. These
screws were of much larger diameter than the suspensory
ones, but could be worked at quite their speed. In fact, the
vessel combined the systems of Cossus, La Landelle, and
Ponton d'Amecourt, as perfected by Robur. But it was in
the choice and application of his motive force that he could
claim to be an inventor.

Machinery. — Robur had not availed himself of the vapor
of water or other liquids, nor compressed air and other
elastic gases, nor explosive mixtures capable of producing
mechanical motion. He employed electricity, that agent
which one day will be the soul of the industrial world. But
he required no electro-motor to produce it. All he trusted
to was piles and accumulators. What were the elements
of these piles, and what were the acids he used, Robur only
knew. And the construction of the accumulators was kept
equally secret. Of what were their positive and negative
plates ? None can say. The engineer took good care — and
not unreasonably — to keep his secret unpatented. One thing
was unmistakable, and that was that the piles were of extra-
ordinary strength; and the accumulators left those of Faure-
Sellon-Volckmar very far behind in yielding currents whose
amperes ran into figures up to then unknown. Thus there
was obtained a power to drive the screws and communicate

ON BOARD THE ALBATROSS 43

a suspending and propelling force in excess of all his re-
quirements under any circumstances.

But — it is as well to repeat it — this belonged entirely to
Robur. He kept it a close secret. And, if the president and
secretary of the Weldon Institute did not happen to dis-
cover it, it would probably be lost to humanity.

It need not be shown that the apparatus possessed
sufficient stability. Its center of gravity proved that at
once. There was no danger of its making alarming angles
with the horizontal, still less of its capsizing.

And now for the metal used by Robur in the construction
of his aeronef — a name which can be exactly applied to
the Albatross. What was this material, so hard that the
bowie-knife of Phil Evans could not scratch it, and Uncle
Prudent could not explain its nature ? Simply paper !
_ For some years this fabrication had been making con-
siderable progress. Unsized paper, with the sheets impreg-
nated with dextrin and starch and squeezed in hydraulic
presses, will form a material as hard as steel. There are
made of it pulleys, rails, and wagon-wheels, much more
solid than metal wheels, and far lighter. And it was this
lightness and solidity which Robur availed himself of in
building his aerial locomotive. Everything — framework,
hull, houses, cabins — were made of straw-paper turned hard
as metal by compression, and — what was not to be despised
in an apparatus flying at great heights — incombustible. The
different parts of the engines and the screws were made of
gelatinized fiber, which combined in sufficient degree flexi-
bility with resistance. This material could be used in every
form. It was insoluble in most gases and liquids, acids or
essences, to say nothing of its insulating properties, and it
proved most valuable in the electric machinery of the Alba-
tross.

Robur, his mate Tom Turner, an engineer and two as-
sistants, two steersmen and a cook — eight men all told —
formed the crew of the aeronef, and proved ample for all
the maneuvers required in aerial navigation. There were
arms of the chase and of war; fishing appliances; electric
lights; instruments of observation, compasses, and sextants
for checking the course, thermometers for studying the
temperature, different barometers, some for estimating the
heights attained, others for indicating the variations of at-

44 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

mospheric pressure; a storm-glass for forecasting tempests;
a small library; a portable printing press; a field-piece
mounted on a pivot, breech-loading and throwing a three-
inch shell; a supply of powder, bullets, dynamite cartridges;
a cooking-stove, warmed by currents from the accumulators ;
a stock of preserves, meats and vegetables sufficient to last
for months. Such were the outfit and stores of the aeronef
— in addition to the famous trumpet.

There was besides a light india-rubber boat, insubmersi-
ble, which could carry eight men on the surface of a river,
a lake, or a calm sea.

But were there any parachutes in case of accident? No.
Robur did not believe in accidents of that kind. The axes
of the screws were independent. The stoppage of a few
would not affect the motion of the others; and if only half
were working, the Albatross could keep afloat in her natural
element.

" And with her," said Robur to his guests — guests in spite
of themselves — " I am master of the seventh part of the
world, larger than Africa, Oceania, Asia, America, and
Europe, this aerial Icarian sea, which millions of Icarians
will one day people."

CHAPTER VIII

THE BALLOONISTS REFUSE TO BE CONVINCED

The president of the Weldon Institute was stupefied; his
companion was astonished. But neither of them would
allow any of their very natural amazement to be visible.

The valet Frycollin did not conceal his terror at finding
himself borne through space on such a machine, and he
took no pains whatever to hide it.

The suspensory screws were rapidly spinning overhead.
Fast as they were going, they would have to triple their
speed if the Albatross was to ascend to higher zones. The
two propellers were running very easily and driving the
ship at about eleven knots an hour.

As they leaned over the rail the passengers of the Al-
batross could perceive a long sinuous liquid ribbon which
meandered like a mere brook through a varied country
amid the gleaming of many lagoons obliquely struck by

THE BALLOONISTS 45

the rays of the sun. The brook was a river, one of the most
important in that district. Along its left bank was a chain
of mountains extending out of sight.

" And will you tell us where we are ? " asked Uncle
Prudent, in a voice tremulous with anger.

" I have nothing to teach you," answered Robur.

" And will you tell us where we are going? " asked Phil
Evans.

" Through space."

"And how long will that last?"

"Until it ends."

"Are we going round the world?" asked Phil Evans
ironically.

" Further than that," said Robur.

"And if this voyage does not suit us?" asked Uncle
Prudent.

" It will have to suit you."

That is a foretaste of the nature of the relations that
were to obtain between the master of the Albatross and his
guests, not to say his prisoners. Manifestly he wished to
give them time to cool down, to admire the marvelous ap-
paratus which was bearing them through the air, and doubt-
less to compliment the inventor. And so he went off to
the other end of the deck, leaving them to examine the
arrangement of the machinery and the management of the
ship or to give their whole attention to the landscape which
was unrolling beneath them.

" Uncle Prudent," said Evans, " unless I am mistaken we
are flying over Central Canada. That river in the north-
west is the St. Lawrence. That town we are leaving behind
is Quebec."

It was indeed the old city of Champlain, whose zinc roofs
were shining like reflectors in the sun. The Albatross must
thus have reached the forty-sixth degree of north latitude,
and thus was explained the premature advance of the day
with the abnormal prolongation of the dawn.

"Yes," said Phil Evans, " there is the town in its amphi-
theater, the hill with its citadel, the Gibraltar of North
America. There are the cathedrals. There is the Custom
House with its dome surmounted by the British flag ! "

Phil Evans had not finished before the Canadian city
began to slip into the distance.

46 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

The clipper entered a zone of light clouds, which gradu-
ally shut off a view of the ground.

Robur, seeing that the president and secretary of the
Weldon Institute had directed their attention to the external
arrangements of the Albatross, walked up to them and
said:

" Well, gentlemen, do you believe in the possibility of
aerial locomotion by machines heavier than air?"

It would have been difficult not to succumb to the evi-
dence. But Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans did not reply.

" You are silent," continued the engineer. " Doubtless
hunger makes you dumb! But if I undertook to carry you
through the air, I did not think of feeding you on such a
poorly nutritive fluid. Your first breakfast is waiting for
you."

As Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans were feeling- the pangs
of hunger somewhat keenly they did not care to stand upon
ceremony. A meal would commit them to nothing; and
when Robur put them back on the ground they could resume
full liberty of action.

And so they followed into a small dining-room in the
aftermost house. There they found a well-laid table at
which they could take their meals during the voyage. There
were different preserves; and, among other things, was a
sort of bread made of equal parts of flour and meat reduced
to powder and worked together with a little lard, which
boiled in water made excellent soup ; and there were rashers
of fried ham ; and for drink there was tea.

Neither had Frycollin been forgotten. He was taken
forward, and there found some strong soup made of this
bread. In truth he had to be very hungry to eat at all, for
his jaws shook with fear, and almost refused to work. " If
it was to break! — if it was to break! " said the unfortunate
negro. Hence continual faintings. Only think! A fall
of over four thousand feet, which would smash him to a
jelly!

An hour afterwards Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans ap-
peared on the deck. Robur was no longer there. At the
stern the man at the wheel in his glass cage, his eyes fixed
on the compass, followed imperturbably without hesitation
the route given by the engineer.

As for the rest of the crew, breakfast probably kept them

THE BALLOONISTS 47

from their posts. An assistant engineer, examining the
machinery, went from one house to the other.

If the speed of the ship was great the two colleagues
could only estimate it imperfectly, for the Albatross had
passed through the cloud zone which the sun showed some
four thousand feet below.

" I can hardly believe it," said Phil Evans.

" Don't believe it ! " said Uncle Prudent. And going to
the bow they looked out towards the western horizon.

" Another town," said Phil Evans.

" Do you recognize it? "

" Yes ! It seems to me to be Montreal."

"Montreal? But we only left Quebec two hours ago!"

" That proves that we must be going at a speed of sev-
enty-five miles an hour."

Such was the speed of the aeronef ; and if the passengers
were not inconvenienced by it, it was because they were
going with the wind. In a calm such speed would have been
difficult and the rate would have sunk to that of an express.
In a head-wind the speed would have been unbearable.

Phil Evans was not mistaken. Below the Albatross ap-
peared Montreal, easily recognizable by the Victoria Bridge,
a tubular bridge thrown over the St. Lawrence like the rail-
way viaduct over the Venice lagoon. Soon they could dis-
tinguish the town's wide streets, its huge shops, its palatial
banks, its cathedral, recently built on the model of St.
Peter's at Rome, and then Mount Royal, which commands
the city and forms a magnificent park.

Luckily Phil Evans had visited the chief towns of Canada,
and could recognize them without asking Robur. After
Montreal they passed Ottawa, whose falls, seen from above,
looked like a vast cauldron in ebullition, throwing off masses
of steam with grand effect.

" There is the Parliament House."

And he pointed out a sort of Nuremburg toy planted on a
hill top. This toy with its polychrome architecture resem-
bled the House of Parliament in London much as the Mon-
treal cathedral resembles St. Peter's at Rome. But that
was of no consequence; there could be no doubt it was
Ottawa.

Soon the city faded off towards the horizon, and formed
but a luminous spot on the ground.

4§ ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

It was almost two hours before Robur appeared. His
mate, Tom Turner, accompanied him. He said only three
words. These were transmitted to the two assistant en-
gineers in the fore and aft engine-houses. At a sign the
helmsman changed the direction of the Albatross a couple
of points to the southwest; at the same time Uncle Prudent
and Phil Evans felt that a greater speed had been given to
the propellers.

In fact, the speed had been doubled, and now surpassed
anything that had ever been attained by terrestrial Engines.
Torpedo-boats do their twenty-two knots an hour; railway
trains do their sixty miles an hour; the ice boats on the
frozen Hudson do their sixty-five miles an hour; a machine
built by the Patterson company, with a cogged wheel, has
done its eighty miles ; and another locomotive between Tren-
ton and Jersey City has done its eighty-four.

But the Albatross, at full speed, could do her hundred
and twenty miles an hour, or 176 feet per second. This
speed is that of the storm which tears up trees by the roots.
It is the mean speed of the carrier pigeon, and is only sur-
passed by the flight of the swallow (220 feet per second)
and that of the swift (274 feet per second).

In a word, as Robur had said, the Albatross, by using
the whole force of her screws, could make the tour of the
globe in two hundred hours, or less than eight days.

Is it necessary to say so? The phenomenon whose ap-
pearance had so much puzzled the people of both worlds was
the aeronef of the engineer. The trumpet which blared its
startling fanfares through the air was that of the mate,
Tom Turner. The flag planted on the chief monuments
of Europe, Asia, America, was the flag of Robur the Con-
queror and his Albatross.

And if up to then the engineer had taken many precau-
tions against being recognized, if by preference he traveled
at night, clearing the way with his electric lights, and dur-
ing the day vanishing into the zones above the clouds, he
seemed now to have no wish to keep his secret hidden. And
if he had come to Philadelphia and presented himself at
the meeting of the Weldon Institute, was it not that they
might share in his prodigious discovery, and convince ipso
facto the most incredulous? We know how he had been

THE BALLOONISTS 49

received, and we see what reprisals he had taken on the
president and secretary of the club.

Again did Robur approach his prisoners, who affected to
be in no way surprised at what they saw, of what had suc-
ceeded in spite of them. Evidently beneath the cranium of
these two Anglo-Saxon heads there was a thick crust of
obstinacy, which would not be easy to remove.

On his part, Robur did not seem to notice anything par-
ticular, and coolly continued the conversation which he had
begun two hours before.

" Gentlemen," said he, " you ask yourselves doubtless if
this apparatus, so marvelously adapted for aerial locomo-
tion, is susceptible of receiving greater speed. It is not
worth while to conquer space if we cannot devour it. I
wanted the air to be a solid support to me, and it is. I saw
that to struggle against the wind I must be stronger than the
wind, and I am. I had no need of sails to drive me, nor oars
nor wheels to push me, nor rails to give me a faster road.
Air is what I wanted, that was all. Air surrounds me as
it surrounds the submarine boat, and in it my propellers act
like the screws of a steamer. That is how I solved the
problem of aviation. That is what a balloon will never do,
nor will any machine that is lighter than air."

Silence, absolute, on the part of the colleagues, which
did not for a moment disconcert the engineer. He contented
himself with a half-smile, and continued in his interrogative
style, " Perhaps you ask if to this power of the Albatross
to move horizontally there is added an equal power of verti-
cal movement — in a word, if, when, we visit the higher
zones of the atmosphere, we can compete with an aerostat?
Well, I should not advise you to enter the Go-ahead against
her!"

The two colleagues shrugged their shoulders. That was
probably what the engineer was waiting for.

Robur made a sign. The propelling screws immediately
stopped, and after running for a mile the Albatross pulled
up motionless.

At a second gesture from Robur the suspensory helices
revolved at a speed that can only be compared to that of a
siren in acoustical experiments. Their f-r-r-r-r rose nearly
an octave in the scale of sound, diminishing gradually in

V. XIV Verne

SO ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

intensity as the air became more rarified, and the machine
rose vertically, like a lark singing his song in space.

"Master! Master!" shouted Frycollin. "See that it
doesn't break ! "

A smile of disdain was Robur's only reply. In a few
minutes the Albatross had attained the height of 8,700 feet,
and extended the range of vision by seventy miles, the
barometer having fallen 480 millimeters.

Then the Albatross descended. The diminution of the
pressure in high altitudes leads to the diminution of oxy-
gen in the air, and consequently in the blood. This has
been the cause of several serious accidents which have hap-
pened to aeronauts, and Robur saw no reason to run any
risk.

The Albatross thus returned to the height she seemed to
prefer, and her propellers beginning again, drove her off
to the southwest.

" Now, sirs, if that is what you wanted you can reply."

Then, leaning over the rail, he remained absorbed in con-
templation.

When he raised his head the president and secretary of
the Weldon Institute stood by his side.

" Engineer Robur," said Uncle Prudent, in vain endeav-
oring to control himself, " we have nothing to ask about
what you seem to believe, but we wish to ask you a question
which we think you would do well to answer."

" Speak."

" By what right did you attack us in Philadelphia in Fair-
mount Park? By what right did you shut us up in that
prison? By what right have you brought us against our
will on board this flying machine ? "

"And by what right, Messieurs Balloonists, did you
insult and threaten me in your club in such a way that I
am astonished I came out of it alive? "

" To ask is not to answer," said Phil Evans, " and I re-
peat, by what right ? "

" Do you wish to know ? "

"If you please."

" Well, by the right of the strongest ! "

" That is cynical."

" But it is true."

" And for how long, citizen engineer," asked Uncle Pru-

THE BALLOONISTS 51

dent, who was nearly exploding, " for how long do you in-
tend to exercise that right? "

" How can you ? " said Robur, ironically, " how can you
ask me such a question when you have only to cast down
your eyes to enjoy a spectacle unparalleled in the world? "

The Albatross was then sweeping across the immense ex-
panse of Lake Ontario. She had just crossed the country
so poetically described by Cooper. Then she followed the
southern shore and headed for the celebrated river which
pours into it the waters of Lake Erie, breaking them to
powder in its cataracts.

In an instant a majestic sound, a roar as of the tempest,
mounted towards them; and, as if a humid fog had been
projected into the air, the atmosphere sensibly freshened.

Below were the liquid masses. They seemed like an
enormous flowing sheet of crystal amid a thousand rain-
bows due to refraction as it decomposed the solar rays.
The sight was sublime.

Before the falls a foot-bridge, stretching like a thread,
united one bank to the other. Three miles below was a
suspension-bridge, across which a train was crawling from
the Canadian to the American bank.

" The falls of Niagara ! " exclaimed Phil Evans. And
as the exclamation escaped him, Uncle Prudent was doing
all he could to admire nothing of these wonders.

A minute afterwards the Albatross had crossed the river
which separates the United States from Canada, and was
flying over the vast territories of the West.

CHAPTER IX

ACROSS THE PRAIRIE

In one of the cabins of the after-house Uncle Prudent
and Phil Evans had found two excellent berths, with clean
linen, change of clothes, and traveling-cloaks and rugs. No
Atlantic liner could have offered them more comfort. If
they did not sleep soundly it was that they did not wish to
do so, or rather that their very real anxiety prevented them.
In what adventure had they embarked? To what series
of experiments had they been invited? How would the
business end? and above all, what was Robur going to do
with them ?

52 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

Frycollin, the valet, was quartered forward in a cabin
adjoining that of the cook. The neighborhood did not dis-
please him ; he liked to rub shoulders with the great in this
world. But if he finally went to sleep it was to dream of
fall after fall, of projections through space, which made his
sleep a horrible nightmare.

However, nothing could be quieter than this journey
through the atmosphere, whose currents had grown weaker
with the evening. Beyond the rustling of the blades of the
screws there was not a sound, except now and then the
whistle from some terrestrial locomotive, or the calling of
some animal. Strange instinct! These terrestrial beings
felt the aeronef glide over them, and uttered cries of ter-
ror as it passed. On the morrow, the 14th of June, at five
o'clock, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans were walking on
the deck of the Albatross. Nothing had changed since the
evening; there was a look-out forward, and the helmsman
was in his glass cage.

Why was there a look-out? Was there any chance of
collision with another such machine? Certainly not. Ro-
bur had not yet found imitators. The chance of encounter-
ing an aerostat gliding through the air was too remote to
be regarded. In any case it would be all the worse for the
aerostat — the earthen pot and the iron pot. The Albatross
had nothing to fear from the collision.

But what could happen? The aeronef might find herself
like a ship on a lee shore if a mountain that could not be
outflanked or passed barred the way. These are the reefs
of the air, and they have to be avoided as a ship avoids the
reefs of the sea. The engineer, it is true, had given the
course, and in doing so had taken into account the altitude
necessary to clear the summits of the high lands in the dis-
trict. But as the aeronef was rapidly nearing a mountain-
ous country, it was only prudent to keep a good lookout,
in case some slight deviation from the course became neces-
sary.

Looking at the country beneath them, Uncle Prudent
and Phil Evans noticed a large lake, whose lower southern
end the Albatross had just reached. They concluded,
therefore, that during the night the whole length of Erie
had been traversed, and that, as they were going due west,
they would soon be over Lake Michigan. " There can be

ACROSS THE PRAIRIE 53

no doubt of it," said Phil Evans, " and that group of roofs
on the horizon is Chicago."

He was right. It was indeed the city from which the
seventeen railways diverge, the Queen of the West, the
vast reservoir into which flow the products of Indiana,
Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, and all the States which form
the western half of the Union.

Uncle Prudent, through an excellent telescope he had
found in his cabin, easily recognized the principal buildings.
His colleague pointed out to him the churches and public
edifices, the numerous " elevators " or mechanical granaries,
and the huge Sherman Hotel, whose windows seemed like
a hundred glittering points on each of its faces.

" If that is Chicago," said Uncle Prudent, " it is obvious
that we are going farther west than is convenient for us if
we are to return to our starting-place."

And, in fact, the Albatross was traveling in a straight
line from the Pennsylvania capital.

But if Uncle Prudent wished to ask Robur to take him
eastwards he could not then do so. That morning the en-
gineer did not leave his cabin. Either he was occupied in
some work, or else he was asleep, and the two colleagues
sat down to breakfast without seeing him.

The speed was the same as that during last evening.
The wind being easterly the rate was not interfered with
at all, and as the thermometer only falls a degree centigrade
for every seventy meters of elevation the temperature was
not insupportable. And so, in chatting and thinking and
waiting for the engineer, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans
walked about beneath the forest of screws, whose gyratory
movement gave their arms the appearance of semi-diaphan-
ous disks.

The State of Illinois was left by its northern frontier in
less than two hours and a half; and they crossed the Father
of Waters, the Mississippi, whose double-decked steam-
boats seemed no bigger than canoes. Then the Albatross
flew over Iowa after having sighted Iowa city about eleven
o'clock in the morning.

A few chains of hills, " bluffs " as they are called, curved
across the face of the country trending from the south to
the northwest, whose moderate height necessitated no rise
in the course of the aeronef. Soon the bluffs gave place

54 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

to the large plains of western Iowa and Nebraska — im-
mense prairies extending all the way to the foot of the
Rocky Mountains. Here and there were many rios, af-
fluents or minor affluents of the Missouri. On their banks
were towns and villages, growing more scattered as the
Albatross sped farther west.

Nothing particular happened during this day. Uncle
Prudent and Phil Evans were left entirely to themselves.
They hardly noticed Frycollin sprawling at full length in
the bow, keeping his eyes shut so that he could see nothing.
!And they were not attacked by vertigo, as might have been
expected. There was no guiding mark, and there was
nothing to cause the vertigo, as there would have been on
the top of a lofty building. The abyss has no attractive
power when it is gazed at from the car of a balloon or deck
of an aeronef. It is not an abyss that opens beneath the
aeronaut, but an horizon that rises round him on all sides
like a cup.

In a couple of hours the Albatross was over Omaha, on
the Nebraskan frontier — Omaha city, the real head of the
Pacific Railway, that long line of rails, four thousand five
hundred miles in length, stretching from New York to San
Francisco. For a moment they could see the yellow waters
of the Missouri, then the town, with its houses of wood and
brick in the center of a rich basin, like a buckle in the iron
belt which clasps North America round the waist. Doubt-
less, also, as the passengers in the aeronef could observe all
these details, the inhabitants of Omaha noticed the strange
machine. Their astonishment at seeing it gliding overhead
could be no greater than that of the president and secretary
of the Weldon Institute at finding themselves on board.

Anyhow, the journals of the Union would be certain to
notice the fact. It would be the explanation of the aston-
ishing phenomenon which the whole world had been won-
dering over for some time.

In an hour the Albatross had left Omaha and crossed
the Platte River, whose valley is followed by the Pacific
Railway in its route across the prairie. Things looked se-
rious for Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans.

" It is serious, then, this absurd project of taking us to
the Antipodes."

" And whether we like it or not ! " exclaimed the other.

ACROSS THE PRAIRIE 55

" Robur had better take care ! I am not the man to stand
that sort of thing."

" Nor am I ! " replied Phil Evans. " But be calm, Uncle
Prudent, be calm."

"Becalm!"

" And keep your temper until it is wanted."

By five o'clock they had crossed the Black Mountains
covered with pines and cedars, and the Albatross was over
the appropriately named Bad Lands of Nebraska — a chaos
of ochre-colored hills, of mountainous fragments fallen on
the soil and broken in their fall. At a distance these blocks
take the most fantastic shapes. Here and there amid this
enormous game of knucklebones there could be traced the
imaginary ruins of mediaeval cities with forts and dungeons,
pepper-box turrets, and machicolated towers. And in truth
these Bad Lands are an immense ossuary where lie bleach-
ing in the sun myriads of fragments of pachyderms, che-
lonians, and even, some would have us believe, fossil men,
overwhelmed by unknown cataclysms ages and ages ago.

When evening came the whole basin of the Platte River
had been crossed, and the plain extended to the extreme
limits of the horizon, which rose high owing to the alti-
tude of the Albatross.

During the night there were no more shrill whistles of
locomotives or deeper notes of the river steamers to trou-
ble the quiet of the starry firmament. Long bellowings oc-
casionally reached the aeronef from the herds of buffalo
that roamed over the prairie in search of water and pastur-
age. And when they ceased, the trampling of the grass
under their feet produced a dull roaring similar to the rush-
ing of a flood, and very different from the continuous
f-r-r-r-r of the screws.

Then from time to time came the howl of a wolf, a fox,
a wild cat, or a coyote, the Canis latrans, whose name is
justified by his sonorous bark.

Occasionally came penetrating odors of mint, and sage,
and absinthe, mingled with the more powerful fragrance of
the conifers which rose floating through the night air.

At last came a menacing yell, which was not due to the
coyote. It was the shout of a Redskin, which no Tender-
foot would confound with the cry of a wild beast.

CHAPTER X

WESTWARD BUT WHITHER?

The next day, the 15th of June, about five o'clock in the
morning, Phil Evans left his cabin. Perhaps he would to-
day have a chance of speaking to Robur? Desirous of
knowing why he had not appeared the day before, Evans
addressed himself to the mate, Tom Turner.

Tom Turner was an Englishman of about forty-five,
broad in the shoulders and short in the legs, a man of iron,
with one of those enormous characteristic heads that Ho-
garth rejoiced in.

" Shall we see Mr. Robur to-day? " asked Phil Evans.

" I don't know," said Turner.

" I need not ask if he has gone out."

" Perhaps he has."

" And when will he come back? "

" When he has finished his cruise."

And Tom went into his cabin.

With this reply they had to be contented. Matters did
not look promising, particularly as on reference to the com-
pass it appeared that the Albatross was still steering south-
west.

Great was the contrast between the barren tract of the
Bad Lands passed over during the night and the landscape
then unrolling beneath them.

The aeronef was now more than six hundred miles from
Omaha, and over a country which Phil Evans could not
recognize because he had never been there before. A few
forts to keep the Indians in order crowned the bluffs with
their geometric lines, formed oftener of palisades than
walls. There were few villages and few inhabitants, the
country differing widely from the auriferous lands of Col-
orado many leagues to the south.

In the distance a long line of mountain crests, in great
confusion as yet, began to appear. They were the Rocky
Mountains.

For the first time that morning Uncle Prudent and Phil
Evans were sensible of a certain lowness of temperature
which was not due to a change in the weather, for the sun
shone in superb splendor.

" It is because of the Albatross being higher in the air,"
said Phil Evans.

56

WESTWARD— BUT WHITHER? '57

In fact the barometer outside the central deck-house had
fallen 540 millimeters, thus indicating an elevation of about
10,000 feet above the sea. The aeronef was at this alti-
tude owing to the elevation of the ground. An hour before
she had been at a height of 13,000 feet, and behind her
were mountains covered with perpetual snow.

There was nothing Uncle Prudent and his companion
could remember which would lead them to discover where
they were. During the night the Albatross had made sev-
eral stretches north and south at tremendous speed, and
that was what had put them out of their reckoning.

After talking over several hypotheses more or less plausi-
ble they came to the conclusion that this country encircled
with mountains must be the district declared by an Act of
Congress in March, 1872, to be the National Park of the
United States. A strange region it was. It well merited
the name of a park — a park with mountains for hills, with
lakes for ponds, with rivers for streamlets, and with geysers
of marvelous power instead of fountains.

In a few minutes the Albatross glided across the Yellow-
stone River, leaving Mount Stevenson on the right, and
coasting the large lake which bears the name of the stream.
Great was the variety on the banks of this basin, ribbed as
they were with obsidian and tiny crystals, reflecting the sun-
light on their myriad facets. Wonderful was the arrange-
ment of the islands on its surface; magnificent were the
blue reflections of the gigantic mirror. And around the
lake, one of the highest in the globe, were multitudes of
pelicans, swans, gulls and geese, bernicles and divers. In
places the steep banks were clothed with green trees, pines
and larches, and at the foot of the escarpments there shot
upwards innumerable white fumaroles, the vapor escaping
from the soil as from an enormous reservoir in which the
water is kept in permanent ebullition by subterranean fire.

The cook might have seized the opportunity of securing
an ample supply of trout, the only. fish the Yellowstone Lake
contains in myriads. But the Albatross kept on at such a
height that there was no chance of indulging in a catch
which assuredly would have been miraculous.

In three quarters of an hour the lake was overpassed,
and a little farther on the last was seen of the geyser region,
which rivals the finest in Iceland. Leaning over the rail,
Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans watched the liquid columns

:58 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

which leaped up as though to furnish the aeronef with a
new element. There were the Fan, with the jets shot forth
in rays, the Fortress, which seemed to be defended by wa-
terspouts, the Faithful Friend, with her plume crowned with
the rainbows, the Giant, spurting forth a vertical torrent
twenty feet round and more than two hundred feet high.

Robur must evidently have been familiar with this in-
comparable spectacle, unique in the world, for he did not
appear on deck. Was it, then, for the sole pleasure of his
guests that he had brought the aeronef above the national
domain? If so, he came not to receive their thanks. He
did not even trouble himself during the daring passage of
the Rocky Mountains, which the Albatross approached at
about seven o'clock.

By increasing the speed of her wings, as a bird rising in
its flight, the Albatross would clear the highest ridges of
the chain, and sink again over Oregon or Utah. But the
maneuver was unnecessary. The passes allowed the bar-
rier to be crossed without ascending for the higher ridges.
There are many of these canyons, or steep valleys, more or
less narrow, through which they could glide, such as
Bridger Gap, through which runs the Pacific Railway into
the Mormon territory, and others to the north and south
of it.

It was through one of these that the Albatross headed,
after slackening speed so as not to dash against the walls
of the canyon. The steersman, with a sureness of hand
rendered more effective by the sensitiveness of the rudder,
maneuvered his craft as if she were a crack racer in a Royal
Victoria match. It was really extraordinary. In spite of
all the jealousy of the two enemies of " lighter than air,"
they could not help being surprised at the perfection of this
engine of aerial locomotion.

In less than two hours and a half they were through the
Rockies, and the Albatross had resumed her former speed
of sixty-two miles an hour. She was steering southwest
so as to cut across Utah diagonally as she neared the ground.
She had even dropped several hundred yards when the
sound of a whistle attracted the attention of Uncle Prudent
and Phil Evans.

It was a train on the Pacific Railway on the road to Salt
Lake City.

WESTWARD— BUT WHITHER? 59

And then, in obedience to an order secretly given, the
Albatross dropped still lower so as to chase the train, which
was going at full speed. She was immediately sighted. A
few heads showed themselves at the doors of the cars.
Then numerous passengers crowded the gangways. Some
did not hesitate to climb on the roof to get a better view of
the flying machine. Cheers came floating up through the
air, but no Robur appeared in answer to them.

The Albatross continued her descent, slowing her sus-
pensory screws and moderating her speed so as not to leave
the train behind. She flew about it like an enormous beetle
or a gigantic bird of prey. She headed off to the right and
left, and swept on in front, and hung behind, and proudly
displayed her flag with the golden sun, to which the
conductor of the train replied by waving the Stars and
Stripes.

In vain the prisoners, in their desire to take advantage
of the opportunity, endeavored to make themselves known
to those below. In vain the president of the Weldon In-
stitute roared forth at the top of his voice, " I am Uncle
Prudent of Philadelphia!" And the secretary followed
suit with, " I am Phil Evans, his colleague ! " Their shouts
were lost in the thousand cheers with which the passengers
greeted the aeronef.

Three or four of the crew of the Albatross had appeared
on the deck, and one of them, like sailors when passing a
ship less speedy than their own, held out a rope, an ironical
way of offering to tow them.

And then the Albatross resumed her original speed, and
in half an hour the express was out of sight. About one
o'clock there appeared a vast disk, which reflected the solar
rays as if it were an immense mirror.

" That ought to be the Mormon capital, Salt Lake City,"
said Uncle Prudent. And so it was, and the disk was the
roof of the Tabernacle, where ten thousand saints canwor-
ship at their ease. This vast dome, like a convex mirror,
threw off the rays of the sun in all directions.

It vanished like a shadow, and the Albatross sped on her
way to the southwest with a speed that was not felt, be-
cause it surpassed that of the chasing wind. Soon she was
in Nevada, over the silver regions, which the Sierra sepa-
rates from the golden lands of California.

6o ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

i

" We shall certainly reach San Francisco before night,"
said Phil Evans.

" And then? " asked Uncle Prudent

It was six o'clock precisely when the Sierra Nevada was
crossed by the same pass as that taken by the railway.
Only a hundred and eighty miles then separated them from
San Francisco, the Calif ornian capital.

At the speed the Albatross was going she would be over
the dome by eight o'clock.

At this moment Robur appeared on deck. The col-
leagues walked up to him.

" Engineer Robur," said Uncle Prudent, " we are now
on the confines of America! We think the time has come
for this joke to end."

" I never joke," said Robur.

He raised his hand. The Albatross swiftly dropped to-
wards the ground, and at the same time such speed was
given her as to drive the prisoners into their cabin.

As soon as the door was shut, Uncle Prudent exclaimed,
" I could strangle him ! "

" We must try to escape ! " said Phil Evans.

" Yes ; cost what it may ! "

A long murmur greeted their ears. It was the beating
of the surf on the seashore. It was the Pacific Ocean !

CHAPTER XI

THE WIDE PACIFIC

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans had quite made up
their minds to escape. If they had not had to deal with the
eight particularly vigorous men who composed the crew of
the aeronef they might have tried to succeed by main force.
But as they were only two — for Frycollin could only be
considered as a quantity of no importance — force was not
to be thought of. Hence recourse must be had to strategy
as soon as the Albatross again took the ground. > Such was
what Phil Evans endeavored to impress on his irascible
colleague, though he was in constant fear of Prudent ag-
gravating matters by some premature outbreak.

In any case the present was not the time to attempt any-
thing of the sort. The aeronef was sweeping along over

THE WIDE PACIFIC 61

the North Pacific. On the following morning, that of
June 1 6th, the coast was out of sight. And as the coast
curvesoff from Vancouver Island up to the Aleutians —
belonging to that portion of America ceded by Russia to
the United States in 1867 — it was highly probable that the
Albatross would cross it at the end of the curve, if her
course remained unchanged.

How long the night appeared to be to the two friends!
How eager they were to get out of their cabins! When
they came on deck in the morning the dawn had for some
hours been silvering the eastern horizon. They were
nearing the June solstice, the longest day of the year in the
northern hemisphere, when there is hardly any night along
the sixtieth parallel.

Either from custom or intention Robur was in no hurry
to leave his deck-house. When he came out this morning
he contented himself with bowing to his two guests as he
passed them in the stern of the aeronef.

And now Frycollin ventured out of his cabin. His eyes
red with sleeplessness, and dazed in their look, he tottered
along like a man whose foot feels it is not on solid ground.
His first glance was at the suspensory screws, which were
working with gratifying regularity without any signs of
haste.

That done, the negro stumbled along to the rail, and
grasped it with both hands, so as to make sure of his bal-
ance. Evidently he wished to view the country over which
the Albatross was flying at the height of seven hundred feet
or more.

At first he kept himself well back behind the rail. Then
he shook it to make sure it was firm ; then he drew himself
up; then he bent forward; then he stretched out his head.
It need not be said that while he was executing these differ-
ent maneuvers he kept his eyes shut. At last he opened
them.

What a shout! And how quickly he fled! And how
deeply his head sank back into his shoulders ! At the bot-
tom of the abyss he had seen the immense ocean. His hair
would have risen on end — if it had not been wool.

" The sea ! the sea ! " he cried. And Frycollin would
have fallen on the deck had not the cook opened his arms
to receive him.

62 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

This cook was a Frenchman, and probably a Gascon,
his name being Frangois Tapage. If he was not a Gascon
he must in his infancy have inhaled the breezes of the
Garonne. How did this Francois Tapage find himself in
the service of the engineer? By what chain of accidents
had he become one of the crew of the Albatross? We can
hardly say ; but in any case he spoke English like a Yankee.
" Eh, stand up! " said he, lifting the negro by a vigorous
clutch at the waist.

"Master Tapage!" said the poor fellow, giving a de-
spairing look at the screws.

" At your service, Frycollin."

" Did this thing ever smash? "

" No, but it will end by smashing."

"Why? Why?"

" Because everything must end."

" And the sea is beneath us ! "

" If we are to fall, it is better to fall in the sea."

" We shall be drowned."

" We shall be drowned, but we shall not be smashed to
a jelly."

The next moment Frycollin was on all fours, creeping
to the back of his cabin.

During this day the aeronef was only driven at moderate
speed. She seemed to skim the placid surface of the sea,
which lay glistening in the sunshine about a hundred feet
beneath. Uncle Prudent and his companion remained in
their cabin, so that they did not meet with Robur,
who walked about smoking alone or talking to the mate.
Only half the screws were working, yet that was enough
to keep the apparatus afloat in the lower zones of the at-
mosphere.

The crew, as a change from the ordinary routine, would
have endeavored to catch a few fish, had there been any
sign of them; but all that could be seen on the surface of
the sea were a few of those yellow-bellied whales which
measure about eighty feet in length. These are the most
formidable cetaceans in the northern seas, and whalers are
very careful in attacking them, for their strength is pro-
digious. However, in harpooning one of these whales,
either with the ordinary harpoon, the Fletcher fuse, or the
javelin-bomb, of which there was an assortment on board,

THE WIDE PACIFIC 63

there would have been no danger to the men of the Alba-
tross.

But what was the good of such useless massacre?
Doubtless to show off the powers of the aeronef to the mem-
bers of the Weldon Institute. And so Robur gave orders
for the capture of one of these monstrous cetaceans.

At the shout of "A whale! a whale!" Uncle Prudent
and Phil Evans came out of their cabin. Perhaps there
was a whaler in sight ! In that case all they had to do to
escape from their flying prison was to jump into the sea,
and chance being picked up by the vessel.

The crew were all on deck. " Shall we try, sir? " asked
Tom Turner.

" Yes," said Robur.

In the engine-room the engineer and his assistant were
at their posts ready to obey the orders signaled to them.
The Albatross dropped towards the sea, and remained,
about fifty feet above it.

There was no ship in sight — of that the two colleagues
soon assured themselves — nor was there any land to be
seen to which they could swim, providing Robur made no
attempt to recapture them.

Several jets of water from the spout holes soon an-
nounced the presence of the whales as they came to the
surface to breathe. Tom Turner and one of the men were
in the bow. Within his reach was one of those javelin-
bombs, of Calif ornian make which are shot from an ar-
quebus and which are shaped as a metallic cylinder ter-
minated by a cylindrical shell armed with a shaft having a
barbed point. Robur was a little farther aft, and with his
right hand signaled to the engineers, while with his left
he directed the steersman. He thus controlled the aeronef
in every way, horizontally and vertically, and it is almost
impossible to conceive with what speed and precision the
Albatross answered to his orders. She seemed a living
being, of which he was the soul.

"A whale! a whale! " shouted Tom Turner, as the back
of a cetacean emerged from the surface about four cable-
lengths in front of the Albatross.

The Albatross swept towards it, and when she was within
sixty feet of it she stopped dead.

Tom Turner seized the arquebus, which was resting

64 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

against a cleat on the rail. He fired, and the projectile,
attached to a long line, entered the whale's body. The
shell, filled with an explosive compound, burst, and shot
out a small harpoon with two branches, which fastened into
the animal's flesh.

" Look out ! " shouted Turner.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, much against their will,
became greatly interested in the spectacle.

The whale, seriously wounded, gave the sea such a slap
with his tail, that the water dashed up over the bow of the
aeronef. Then he plunged to a great depth, while the line,
which had been previously wetted in a tub of water to
prevent its taking fire, ran out like lightning. When the
whale rose to the surface he started off at full speed in a
northerly direction.

It may be imagined with what speed the Albatross was
towed in pursuit. Besides, the propellers had been stopped.
The whale was let go as he would, and the ship followed
him. Turner stood ready to cut the line in case a fresh
plunge should render this towing dangerous.

For half an hour, and perhaps for a distance of six
miles, the Albatross was thus dragged along, but it was
obvious that the whale was tiring. Then, at a gesture from
Robur, the assistant engineers started the propellers astern,
so as to oppose a certain resistance to the whale, who was
gradually getting closer.

Soon the aeronef was gliding about twenty-five feet
above him. His tail was beating the waters with incredi-
ble violence, and as he turned over on his back an enormous
wave was produced.

Suddenly the whale turned up again, so as to take a
header, as it were, and then dived with such rapidity that
Turner had barely time to cut the line.

The aeronef was dragged to the very surface of the wa-
ter. A whirlpool was formed where the animal had disap-
peared. A wave dashed up on to the deck as if the aeronef
were a ship driving against wind and tide.

Luckily, with a blow of the hatchet the mate severed the
line, and the Albatross, freed from her tug, sprang aloft
six hundred feet under the impulse of her ascensional
screws. Robur had maneuvered his ship without losing
his coolness for a moment.

THE WIDE PACIFIC 65

A few minutes afterwards the whale returned to the sur-
face— dead. From every side the birds flew down on to
the carcass, and their cries were enough to deafen a con-
gress. The Albatross, without stopping to share in the
spoil, resumed her course to the west.

In the morning of the 17th of June, at about six o'clock,
land was sighted on the horizon. This was the peninsula
of Alaska, and the long range of breakers of the Aleutian
Islands.

The Albatross glided over the barrier where the fur seals
swarm for the benefit of the Russo- American Company.
An excellent business is the capture of these amphibians,
which are from six to seven feet long, russet in color, and
weigh from three hundred to four hundred pounds. There
they were in interminable files, ranged in line of battle,
and countable by thousands.

Although they did not move at the passage of the Alba-
tross, it was otherwise with the ducks, divers, and loons,
whose husky cries filled the air as they disappeared beneath
the waves and fled terrified from the aerial monster.

The twelve hundred miles of the Behring Sea between
the first of the Aleutians and the extreme end of Kamt-
schatka were traversed during the twenty-four hours of
this day and the following night. Uncle Prudent and
Phil Evans found that there was no present chance of put-
ting their project of escape into execution. Flight was
not to be thought of among the deserts of Eastern Asia,
nor on the coast of the sea of Okhotsk. Evidently the Al-
batross was bound for Japan or China, and there, although
it was not perhaps quite safe to trust themselves to the
mercies of the Chinese or Japanese, the two friends had
made up their minds to run if the aeronef stopped.

But would she stop? She was not like a bird which
grows fatigued by too long a flight, or like a balloon which
has to descend for want of gas. She still had food for
many weeks, and her organs were of marvelous strength,
defying all weakness and weariness.

During the 18th of June she swept over the peninsula of
Kamtschatka, and during the day there was a glimpse of
Petropaulovski and the volcano of Kloutschew. Then she
rose again to cross the Sea of Okhotsk, running down by
the Kurile Isles, which seemed to be a breakwater pierced

V. XIV Verne

66 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

by hundreds of channels. On the 19th, in the morning,
the Albatross was over the strait of La Perouse between
Saghalien and Northern Japan, and had reached the mouth
of the great Siberian river, the Amoor.

Then there came on a fog so dense that the aeronef had
to rise above it. At the altitude she was there was no
obstacle to be feared, no elevated monuments to hinder her
passage, no mountains against which there was risk of
being shattered in her flight. The country was only
slightly varied. But the fog was very disagreeable, and
made everything on board very damp.

All that was necessary was to get above this bed of mist,
which was nearly thirteen hundred feet thick, and the as-
censional screws being increased in speed, the Albatross
was soon clear of the fog and in the sunny regions of the
sky. Under these circumstances, Uncle Prudent and Phil
Evans would have found some difficulty in carrying out
their plan of escape, even admitting that they could leave
the aeronef.

During the day, as Robur passed them, he stopped for a
moment, and without seeming to attach any importance to
what he said, addressed them carelessly as follows : " Gen-
tlemen^ a sailing-ship or a steamship caught in a fog from
which it cannot escape is always much delaysd. It must
not move unless it keeps its whistle or its horn going. It
must reduce its speed, and any instant a collision may be
expected. The Albatross has none of these thing's to fear.
What does fog matter to her ? She can leave it when she
chooses. The whole of space is hers." And Robur con-
tinued his stroll without waiting for an answer, and the
puffs of his pipe were lost in the sky.

" Uncle Prudent," said Phil Evans, " it seems that this
astonishing Albatross never has anything to fear."

"That we shall see!" answered the president of the
Weldon Institute.

The fog lasted three days, the 19th, 20th, and 21st of
June, with regrettable persistence. An ascent had to be
made to clear the Japanese mountain of Fusiyama. When
the curtain of mist was drawn aside there lay below them
an immense city, with palaces, villas, gardens, and parks.
Even without seeing it Robur had recognized it by the
barking of the innumerable dogs, the cries of the birds of

THE WIDE PACIFIC 67

prey, and above all, by the cadaverous odor which the bodies
of its executed criminals gave off into space.

The two colleagues were out on the deck while the en-
gineer was- taking his observations in case he thought it
best to continue his course through the fog.

" Gentlemen," said he, " I have no reason for conceal-
ing from you that this town is Tokio, the capital of Japan."

Uncle Prudent did not. reply. In the presence of the
engineer he was almost choked, as if his lungs were short
of air.

" This view of Tokio," continued Robur, " is very cu-
rious."

" Curious as it may be " replied Phil Evans.

"It is not as good as Pekin? " interrupted the engineer.
" That is what I think, and very shortly you shall have an
opportunity of judging."

Impossible to be more agreeable !

The Albatross then gliding southeast, had her course
changed four points, so as to head to the eastward.

CHAPTER XII

THROUGH THE HIMALAYAS

During the night the fog cleared off. There were symp-
toms of an approaching typhoon — a rapid fall of the ba-
rometer, a disappearance of vapor, large clouds of ellipsoid
form clinging to a copper sky, and, on the opposite horizon,
long streaks of carmine on a slate-colored field, with a large
sector quite clear in the north. Then the sea was smooth
and calm and at sunset assumed a deep scarlet hue.

Fortunately the typhoon broke more to the south, and
had no other result than to sweep away the mist which had
been accumulating during the last three days.

In an hour they had traversed the hundred and twenty-
five miles of the Corean strait, and while the typhoon was
raging on the coast of China, the Albatross was over the
Yellow Sea. During the 22nd and 23rd she was over the
Gulf of Pechelee, and on the 24th she was ascending the
valley of the Peiho on her way to the capital of the Celes-
tial Empire.

Leaning over the rail, the two colleagues, as the engineer

68 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

had told them, could see distinctly the immense city, the
wall which divides it into two parts — the Manchoo town
and the Chinese town — the twelve suburbs which surround
it, the large boulevards which radiate from its center, the
temples with their green and yellow roofs bathed in the
rising sun, the grounds surrounding the houses of the man-
darins; then in the middle of the Manchoo town the eight-
een hundred acres of the Yellow town, with its pagodas,
its imperial gardens, its artificial lakes, its mountain of
coal which towers above the capital; and in the center of
the Yellow town, like a square of a Chinese puzzle enclosed
in another, the Red town, that is the imperial palace, with
all the peaks of its outrageous architecture.

Below the Albatross the air was filled with a singular
harmony. It seemed to be a concert of iEolian harps.
In the air were a hundred kites of different forms, made
of sheets of palm-leaf, and having at their upper end a
sort of bow of light wood with a thin slip of bamboo be-
neath. In the breath of the wind these slips, with all their
notes varied like those of a harmonicon, gave forth a most
melancholy murmuring. It seemed as though they were
breathing musical oxygen.

It suited Robur's whim to run close up to this aerial or-
chestra, and the Albatross slowed as she glided through the
sonorous waves which the kites gave off through the at-
mosphere.

But immediately an extraordinary effect was produced
amongst the innumerable population. Beatings of the
tomtoms and sounds of other formidable instruments of
the Chinese orchestra, gun reports by the thousand, mor-
tars fired in hundreds, all were brought into play to scare
away the aeronef. Although the Chinese astronomers
may have recognized the aerial machine as the moving body
that had given rise to such disputes, it was to the Celestial
million, from the humblest tankader to the best-buttoned
mandarin, an apocalyptical monster appearing in the sky of
Buddha.

The crew of the Albatross troubled themselves verv little
about these demonstrations. But the strings which held
the kites, and were tied to fixed pegs in the imperial gar-
dens, were cut or quickly hauled in; and the kites were
either drawn in rapidly, sounding louder as they sank, or

THROUGH THE HIMALAYAS 69

else fell like a bird shot through both wings, whose song
ends with its last sigh.

A noisy fanfare escaped from Tom Turner's trumpet,
and drowned the final notes of the aerial concert. It did
not interrupt the terrestrial fusillade. At last a shell ex-
ploded a few feet below the Albatross, and then she mounted
into the inaccessible regions of the sky.

Nothing happened during the few following days of
which the prisoners could take advantage. The aeronef
kept on her course to the southwest, thereby showing that
it was intended to take her to India. Twelve hours after
leaving Pekin Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans caught a
glimpse of the Great Wall in the neighborhood of Chen-Si.
Then, avoiding the Lung Mountains, they passed over the
valley of the Hoangho and crossed the Chinese border on
the Thibet side.

Thibet consists of high table-lands without vegetation,
with here and there snowy peaks and barren ravines, tor-
rents fed by glaciers, depressions with glittering beds of
salt, lakes surrounded by luxurious forests, with icy winds
sweeping over all.

The barometer indicated an altitude of thirteen thousand
feet above the level of the sea. At that height the tempera-
ture, although it was in the warmest months of the northern
hemisphere, was only a little above freezing. This cold,
combined with the speed of the Albatross, made the voyage
somewhat trying, and although the friends had warm trav-
eling wraps, they preferred to keep to their cabin.

It need hardly be said that to keep the aeronef in this
rarefied atmosphere the suspensory screws had to be driven
at extreme speed. But they worked with perfect regular-
ity, and the sound of their wings almost acted as a lullaby.

During this day, appearing from below about the size of
a carrier pigeon, she passed over Garlock, a town of west-
ern Thibet, the capital of the province of Gari Khorsum.

On the 27th of June, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans
sighted an enormous barrier, broken here and there by sev-
eral peaks, lost in the snows that bounded the horizon.

Leaning against the fore-cabin, so as to keep their places
notwithstanding the speed of the ship, they watched these
colossal masses, which seemed to be running away from
the aeronef.

70 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

"The Himalayas, evidently," said Phil Evans; "and
probably Robur is going round their base, so as to pass into
India."

" So much the worse," answered Uncle Prudent. " On

that immense territory we shall perhaps be able to "

" Unless he goes round by Burmah to the east, or Nepaul
to the west."

" Anyhow, I defy him to go through them."
"Indeed!" said a voice.

The next day, the 28th of June, the Albatross was in
front of the huge mass above the province of Zang. On
the other side of the chain was the province of Nepaul.
These ranges block the road into India from the north.
The two_ northern ones, between which the aeronef was
gliding like a ship between enormous reefs, are the first
steps of the Central Asian barrier. The first was the Kuen
Lung, the other the Karakorum, bordering the longitudinal
valley parallel to the Himalayas, from which the Indus
flows to the west and the Brahmapootra to the east.

What a superb orographical system! More than two
hundred summits have been measured, seventeen of which
exceed twenty-five thousand feet. In front of the Alba-
tross, at a height of twenty-nine thousand feet, towered
Mount Everest. To the right was Dhawalagiri, reaching
twenty-six thousand eight hundred feet, and relegated to
second place since the measurement of Mount Everest.

Evidently Robur did not intend to go over the top of
these peaks ; but probably he knew the passes of the Him-
alayas^ among others that of Ibi Ganim, which the brothers
Schlagintweit traversed in 1856 at a height of twenty-two
thousand feet. And towards it he went.

Several hours of palpitation, becoming quite painful fol-
lowed; and although the rarefaction of the air was not such
as to necessitate recourse being had to the special apparatus
for renewing the oxygen in the cabins, the cold was exces-
sive.

Robur stood in the bow, his sturdy figure wrapped in a
great-coat. He gave the orders, while Tom Turner was at
the helm. The engineer kept an attentive watch on his
batteries, the acid in which fortunately ran no risk of con-
gelation. The screws, running at the full strength of the
current, gave forth a note of intense shrillness in spite of

THROUGH THE HIMALAYAS 71

the trifling density of the air. The barometer showed
twenty-three thousand feet in altitude.

Magnificent was the grouping of the chaos of mountains !
Everywhere were brilliant white summits. There were no
lakes, but glaciers descending ten thousand feet towards
the base. There was no herbage, only a few phanerogams
on the limit of vegetable life. Down on the lower flanks
of the range were splendid forests of pines and cedars.
Here were none of the gigantic ferns and interminable
parasites stretching from tree to tree as in the thickets of
the jungle. There were no animals — no wild horses, or
yaks, or Thibetan bulls. Occasionally a scared gazelle
showed itself far down the slopes. There were no birds,
save a couple of those crows which can rise to the utmost
limits of the respirable air.

The pass at last was traversed. The Albatross began;
to descend. Coming from the hills out of the forest region
there was now beneath them an immense plain stretching
far and wide.

Then Robur stepped up to his guests, and in a pleasant
voice remarked, " India, gentlemen ! "

CHAPTER XIII

OVER THE CASPIAN

The engineer had no intention of taking his ship over
the wondrous lands of Hindostan. To cross the Himalayas
was to show how admirable was the machine he com-
manded; to convince those who would not be convinced
was all he wished to do.

But if in their hearts Uncle Prudent and his colleague
could not help admiring so perfect an engine of aerial
locomotion, they allowed none of their admiration to be
visible. All they thought of was how to escape. They
did not even admire the superb spectacle that lay beneath
them as the Albatross flew along the river banks of the
Punjab.

At the base of the Himalayas there runs a marshy belt of
country, the home of malarious vapors, the Terai, in which
fever is endemic. But this offered no obstacle to the Al-
batross, or, in any way affected the health of her crew.

72 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

She kept on without undue haste towards the angle where
India joins on to China and Turkestan, and on the 29th of
June, in the early hours of the morning, there opened to
view the incomparable valley of Cashmere.

Yes! incomparable is this gorge between the major and
the minor Himalayas — furrowed by the buttresses in which
the mighty range dies out in the basin of the Hydaspes,
and watered by the capricious windings of the river which
saw the struggle between the armies of Porus and Alexan-
der, when India and Greece contended for Central Asia.
The Hydaspes is still there, although the two towns founded
by the Macedonian in remembrance of his victory have long
since disappeared.

During the morning the aeronef was over Serinuggur,
which is better known under the name of Cashmere.
Uncle Prudent and his companion beheld the superb city
clustered along both banks of the river; its wooden bridges
stretching across like threads, its villas and their balconies
standing out in bold outline, its hills shaded by tall poplars,
its roofs grassed over and looking like molehills; its num-
erous canals, with boats like nut-shells, and boatmen like
ants; its palaces, temples, kiosks, mosques, and bungalows
on the outskirts; and its old citadel of Hari-Pawata on the
slope of the hill like the most important of the forts of
Paris on the slope of Mont Valerien.

" That would be Venice," said Phil Evans, " if we were
in Europe."

"And if we were in Europe," answered Uncle Prudent,
" we should know how to find the way to America."

The Albatross did not linger over the lake through which
the river flows, but continued her flight down the valley of
the Hydaspes.

For half an hour only did she descend to within thirty
feet of the river and remained stationary. Then, by means
of an india-rubber pipe, Tom Turner and his men re-
plenished their water-supply, which was drawn up by a
pump worked by the accumulators. Uncle Prudent and
Phil Evans stood watching the operation. The same idea
occurred to each of them. They were only a few feet
from the surface of the stream. They were both good
swimmers. A plunge would give them their liberty; and
once they had reached the river, how could Robur get

OVER THE CASPIAN 73

them back again? For his propellers to work, he must
keep at least six feet above the ground.

In a moment all the chances pro and con were run over
in their minds. In a moment they were considered, and
the prisoners rushed to throw themselves overboard, when
several pairs of hands seized them by the shoulders.

They had been watched; and flight was utterly impos-
sible.

This time they did not yield without resisting. They
tried to throw off those who held them. But these men
of the Albatross were no children.

" Gentlemen," said the engineer, " when people have
the pleasure of traveling with Robur the Conqueror, as
you have so well named him, on board his admirable Al-
batross, they do not leave him in that way. I may add
you never leave him."

Phil Evans drew away his colleague, who was about to
commit some act of violence. They retired to their cabin,
resolved to escape, even if it cost them their lives.

Immediately the Albatross resumed her course to the
west. During the day at moderate speed she passed over
the territory of Cabulistan, catching a momentary glimpse
of its capital, and crossed the frontier of the kingdom of
Herat, nearly seven hundred miles from Cashmere.

In these much-disputed countries, the open road for the
Russians to the English possessions in India, there were
seen many columns and convoys, and, in a word, every-
thing that constitutes in men and material an armv on
the march. There were heard also the roar of the cannon
and the crackling of musketry. But the engineer never
meddled with the affairs of others where his honor or
humanity was not concerned. He passed above them. If
Herat, as we are told, is the key of Central Asia, it mat-
tered little to him if it was kept in an English or Muscovite
pocket. Terrestrial interests were nothing to him who had
made the air his domain.

Besides, the country soon disappeared in one of those
sandstorms which are so frequent in these regions. The
wind called the "tebbad " bears along the seeds of fever
in the impalpable dust it raises in its passage. And many
are the caravans that perish in its eddies.

To escape this dust, which might have interfered with

74 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

the working of the screws, the Albatross shot up some
six thousand feet into a purer atmosphere.

And thus vanished the Persian frontier and the extensive
plains. The speed was not excessive, although there were
no rocks ahead, for the mountains marked on the map
are of very moderate altitude. But as the ship approached
the capital, she had to steer clear of Demavend, whose
snowy peak rises some twenty-two thousand feet, and
the chain of Elbruz, at whose foot is built Teheran.

As soon as the day broke on the 2nd of July the peak
of Demavend appeared above the sandstorm, and the Al-
batross was steered so as to pass over the town, which
the wind had wrapped in a mantle of dust.

However, about six o'clock her crew could see the large
ditches that surround it, and the Shah's palace, with its
walls covered with porcelain tiles, and its ornamental lakes,
which seemed like huge turquoises of beautiful blue.

It was but a hasty glimpse. The Albatross now headed
for the north, and a few hours afterwards she was over
a little hill at the northern angle of the Persian frontier,
on the shores of a vast extent of water which stretched
away out of sight to the north and east.

The town was Ashurada, the most southerly of the
Russian stations. The vast extent of water was a sea.
It was the Caspian.

The eddies of sand had been passed. There was a view
of a group of European houses rising along a promontory,
with a church tower in the midst of them.

The Albatross swooped down towards the surface of
the sea. Towards evening she was running along the
coast — which formerly belonged to Turkestan, but now
belongs to Russia — and in the morning of the 3rd of July
she was about three hundred feet above the Caspian.

There was no land in sight, either on the Asiatic or
European side. On the surface of the sea a few white
sails were bellying in the breeze. These were native
vessels recognizable by their peculiar rig — kesebeys, with
two masts; kayuks, the old pirate-boats, with one mast;
teimils, and smaller craft for trading and fishing. Here
and there a few puffs of smoke rose up to the Albatross
from the funnels of the Ashurada steamers, which the
Russians keep as the police of these Turcoman waters.

OVER THE CASPIAN 75

That morning Tom Turner was talking to the cook,
Tapage, and to a question of his replied, " Yes; we shall be
about forty-eight hours over the Caspian."

"Good!" said the cook; "then we can have some
fishing."

"Just so."

They were to remain for forty-eight hours over the
Caspian, which is some six hundred and twenty-five miles
long and two hundred wide, because the speed of the Al-
batross had been much reduced, and while the fishing was
going on she would be stopped altogether.

The reply was heard by Phil Evans, who was then in
the bow, where Frycollin was overwhelming him with
piteous pleadings to be put "on the ground."

Without replying to this preposterous request, Evans
returned aft to Uncle Prudent; and there, taking care not
to be overheard, he reported the conversation that had
taken place.

" Phil Evans," said Uncle Prudent, " I think there can
be no mistake as to this scoundrel's intention with regard
to us."

"None," said Phil Evans. "He will only give us our
liberty when it suits him, and perhaps not at all."

" In that case we must do all we can to get away from
the Albatross."

" A splendid craft she is, I must admit."

"Perhaps so," said Uncle Prudent; "but she belongs
to a scoundrel who detains us on board in defiance of all
right. For us and ours she is a constant danger. If we
do not destroy her "

" Let us begin by saving ourselves ! " answered Phil
Evans; "we can see about the destruction afterwards."

"Just so," said Uncle Prudent. "And we must avail
ourselves of every chance that comes along. Evidently
the Albatross is going to cross the Caspian into Europe,
either by the north into Russia or by the west into the
southern countries. Well, no matter where we stop, before
we get to the Atlantic we shall be safe. And we ought to
be ready at any moment."

"But," asked Evans, "how are we to get out?"

" Listen to me," said Uncle Prudent. " It may happen
during the night that the Albatross may drop to within a

76 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

few hundred feet of the ground. Now there are on board
several ropes of that length, and, with a little pluck we
might slip down them "

"Yes," said Evans. "If the case is desperate I don't
mind "

" Nor I. During the night there's no one about except
the man at the wheel. And if we can drop one of the
ropes forward without being seen or heard "

" Good ! I am glad to see you are so cool ; that means
business. But just now we are over the Caspian. There
are several ships in sight. The Albatross is going down
to fish. Cannot we do something now ? "

" Sh ! They are watching us much more than you
think," said Uncle Prudent. "You saw that when we
tried to jump into the Hydaspes."

"And who knows that they don't watch us at night?"
asked Evans.

" Well, we must end this; we must finish with this Al-
batross and her master."

It will be seen how in the excitement of their anger the
colleagues — Uncle Prudent in particular — were prepared
to attempt the most hazardous things. The sense of their
powerlessness, the ironical disdain with which Robur
treated them, the brutal remarks he indulged in — all con-
tributed towards intensifying the aggravation which daily
grew more manifest.

This very day something occurred which gave rise to
another most regrettable altercation between Robur and
his guests. This was provoked by Frycollin, who, finding
himself above the boundless sea, was seized with another
fit of terror. Like a child, like the negro he was, he gave
himself over to groaning and protesting and crying, and
writhing in a thousand contortions and grimaces.

"I want to get out! I want to get out! I am not a
bird ! Boohoo ! I don't want to fly, I want to get out ! "

Uncle Prudent, as may be imagined, did not attempt to
quiet him. In fact, he encouraged him, and particularly
as the incessant howling seemed to have a strangely
irritating effect on Robur.

When Tom Turner and his companions were getting
ready for fishing, the engineer ordered them to shut up
Frycollin in his cabin. But the negro never ceased his

OVER THE CASPIAN 77

jumping about, and began to kick at the wall and yell with
redoubled power.

It was noon. The Albatross was only about fifteen or
twenty feet above the water. A few ships, terrified at the
apparition, sought safety in flight.

As may be guessed, a sharp look-out was kept on the
prisoners, whose temptation to escape could not but be
intensified. Even supposing they jumped overboard they
would have been picked up by the india-rubber boat. As
there was nothing to do during the fishing, in which Phi]
Evans intended to take part, Uncle Prudent, raging fur-
iously as usual, retired to his cabin.

The Caspian Sea is a volcanic depression. Into it flow
the waters of the Volga, the Ural, the Kour, the Kouma,
the Jemba, and others. Without the evaporation which
relieves it of its overflow, this basin, with an area of 17,000
square miles, and a depth of from sixty to four hundred
feet, would flood the low marshy ground to its north and
east. Although it is not in communication with the Black
Sea or the Sea of Aral, being at a much lower level than
they are, it contains an immense number of fish — such
fish, be it understood, as can live in its bitter waters, the
bitterness being due to the naphtha which pours in from
the springs on the south.

The crew of the Albatross made no secret of their de-
light at the change in their food the fishing would bring
them.

" Look out ! " shouted Turner, as he harpooned a good-
sized fish, not unlike a shark.

It was a splendid sturgeon seven feet long, called by
the Russians belouga, the eggs of which mixed up with
salt, vinegar, and white wine form caviare. Sturgeons
from the river are, it may be, rather better than those from
the sea ; but these were welcomed warmly enough on board
the Albatross.

But the best catches were made with the drag-nets, which
brought up at each haul carp, bream, salmon, salt-water
pike, and a number of medium-sized sterlets, which wealthy
gourmets have sent alive to Astrakhan, Moscow, and
Petersburg, and which now passed direct from their natural
element into the cook's kettle without any charge for trans-
port.

78 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

An hour's work sufficed to fill up the larders of the
aeronef, and she resumed her course to the north.

^ During the fishing Frycollin had continued shouting and
kicking at his cabin wall and making a tremendous noise.
"That wretched nigger will not be quiet, then?" said
Robur, almost out of patience.

" It seems to me, sir, he has a right to complain," said
Phil Evans.

" Yes, and I have a right to look after my ears," replied
Robur.

"Engineer Robur!" said Uncle Prudent, who had just
appeared on deck.

"President of the Weldon Institute!"
They had stepped up to one another, and were look-
ing into the whites of each other's eyes. Then Robur
shrugged his shoulders. " Put him at the end of a line,"
he said.

Turner saw his meaning at once. Frycollin was dragged
out of his cabin. Loud were his cries when the mate and
one of the men seized him and tied him into a tub, which
they hitched on to a rope — one of those very ropes, in fact,
that Uncle Prudent had intended to use as we know.

The negro at first thought he was going to be hanged.
No ! he was only going to be towed !

The rope was paid out for a hundred feet and Frycollin
found himself hanging in space.

_ He could then shout at his ease. But fright contracted
his larynx, and he was mute.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans endeavored to prevent this
performance. They were thrust aside.

" It is scandalous ! It is cowardly ! " said Uncle Pru-
dent, quite beside himself with rage.
" Indeed ! " said Robur.

" It is an abuse of power against which I protest."
"Protest away!"
" I will be avenged, Mr. Robur."
" Avenge when you like, Mr. Prudent."
" I will have my revenge on you and yours."
The crew began to close up with anything but peaceful
intentions. Robur motioned them away.

t " Yes, on you and yours ! " said Uncle Prudent, whom
his colleague in vain tried to keep quiet.

OVER THE CASPIAN 79

" Whenever you please ! " said the engineer.

" And in every possible way ! "

"That is enough now," said Robur, in a threatening
tone. "There are other ropes on board. And if you
don't be quiet, I'll treat you as I have done your servant ! "

Uncle Prudent was silent, not because he was afraid, but
because his wrath had nearly choked him; and Phil Evans
led him off to his cabin.

During the last hour the air had been strangely troubled.
The symptoms could not be mistaken. A storm was
threatening. The electric saturation of the atmosphere
had become so great that about half-past two o'clock Robur
witnessed a phenomenon that was new to him.

In the north, whence the storm was traveling, ^ were
spirals of half-luminous vapor due to the difference in the
electric charges of the various beds of cloud. The re-
flections of these bands came running along the waves in
myriads of lights, growing in intensity as the sky darkened.

The Albatross and the storm were sure to meet, for they
were exactly in front of each other.

And Frycollin? Well! Frycollin was being towed —
and towed is exactly the word, for the rope made such an
angle with the aeronef, now going at over sixty knots an
hour, that the tub was a long way behind her.

The crew were busy in preparing for the storm, for
the Albatross would either have to rise above it or drive
through its lowest layers. She was about three thousand
feet above the sea when a clap of thunder was heard.
Suddenly the squall struck her. In a few seconds the fiery
clouds swept on around her.

Phil Evans went to intercede for Frycollin, and asked
for him to be taken on board again. But Robur had al-
ready given orders to that effect, and the rope was being
hauled in, when suddenly there took place an inexplicable
slackening in the speed of the screws.

The engineer rushed to the central deck-house. " Power !
More power!" he shouted. "We must rise quickly and
get over the storm ! "

" Impossible, sir ! "

"What is the matter?"

"The currents are troubled! They are intermittent!
And, in fact, the Albatross was falling fast.

8o ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

As with the telegraph wires on land during a storm, so
was it with the accumulators of the aeronef. But what is
only an inconvenience in the case of messages was here a
terrible danger.

" Let her down, then," said Robur, " and get out of the
electric zone ! Keep cool, my lads ! "

He stepped on to his quarter-deck and his crew went to
their stations.

Although the Albatross had sunk several hundred feet
she was still in the thick of the cloud, and the flashes played
across her as if they were fireworks. It seemed as
though she was struck. The screws ran more and more
slowly, and what began as a gentle descent threatened to
become a collapse.

In less than a minute it was evident they would get down
to the surface of the sea. Once they were immersed no
power could drag them from the abyss.

Suddenly the electric cloud appeared above them. The
Albatross was only sixty feet from the crest of the waves.
In two or three seconds the deck would be under water.

But Robur, seizing the propitious moment, rushed to the
central house and seized the levers. He turned on the cur-
rents from the piles no longer neutralized by the electric
tension of the surrounding atmosphere. In a moment the
screws had regained their normal speed and checked the
descent; and the Albatross remained at her slight elevation
while her propellers drove her swiftly out of reach of the
storm.

Frycollin, of course, had a bath — though only for a few
seconds. When he was dragged on deck he was as wet as
if he had been to the bottom of the sea. As may be
imagined, he cried no more.

In the morning of the 4th of July the Albatross had
passed over the northern shore of the Caspian.

CHAPTER XIV

THE AERONEF AT FULL SPEED

If ever Prudent and Evans despaired on escaping from
the Albatross it was during the two days that followed.
It may be that Robur considered it more difficult to keep a

THE AERONEF AT FULL SPEED 81

watch on his prisoners while he was crossing Europe, and
he knew that they had made up their minds to get away.

But any attempt to have done so would have been simply
committing suicide. To jump from an express going sixty
miles an hour is to risk your life, but to jump from a ma-
chine going one hundred and twenty miles an hour would
be to seek your death.

And it was at this speed, the greatest that could be given
to her, that the Albatross tore along. Her speed exceeded
that of the swallow, which is one hundred and twelve miles
an hour.

At first the wind was in the northeast, and the Alba-
tross had it fair, her general course being a westerly one.
But the wind began to drop, and it soon became impossible
for the colleagues to remain on the deck without having
their breath taken away by the rapidity of the flight. And
on one occasion they would have been blown overboard if
they had not been dashed up against the deck-house by the
pressure of the wind.

Luckily the steersman saw them through the windows
of his cage, and by the electric bell gave the alarm to the
men in the fore-cabin. Four of them came aft, creeping
along the deck.

Those who have been at sea, beating to windward m
half a gale of wind, will understand what the pressure was
like. Only here it was the Albatross that by her incom-
parable speed made her own wind.

To allow Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans to get back to
their cabin the speed had to be reduced. Inside the deck-
house the Albatross bore with her a perfectly breathable
atmosphere.

To stand such driving the strength of the apparatus
must have been prodigious. The propellers spun round so
swiftly that they seemed immovable, and it was with irre-
sistible penetrative power that they screwed themselves
through the air.

The last town that had been noticed was Astrakhan,
situated at the north end of the Caspian Sea. The Star
of the Desert— it must have been a poet who so called it
—has now sunk from the first rank to the fifth or sixth.
A momentary glance was afforded at its old walls, with
their useless battlements, the ancient towers in the center

V. XIV Verne

&2 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

of the city, the mosques and modern churches, the cathe-
dral with its five domes, gilded and dotted with stars as if
it were a piece of the sky, as they rose from the bank of the
Volga, which here, as it joins the sea, is over a mile in
width.

Thenceforward the flight of the Albatross became quite
a race through the heights of the sky, as if she had been
harnessed to one of those fabulous hippogriffs which
cleared a league at every sweep of the wing.

At ten o'clock in the morning of the 4th of July the
aeronef, heading northwest, followed for a little the valley
of the Volga. The steppes of the Don and the Ural
stretched away on each side of the river. Even if it had
been possible to get a glimpse of these vast territories there
would have been no time to count the towns and villages.
In the evening the aeronef passed over Moscow without
saluting the flag on the Kremlin. In ten hours she had
covered the twelve hundred miles which separate Astrakhan
from the ancient capital of all the Russias.

From Moscow to St. Petersburg the railway line meas-
ures about seven hundred and fifty miles. This was but
a half-day's journey, and the Albatross, as punctual as the
mail, reached St. Petersburg and the banks of the Neva at
two o'clock in the morning.

Then came the Gulf of Finland, the Archipelago of Abo,
the Baltic, Sweden in the latitude of Stockholm, and Nor-
way in the latitude of Christiania. Ten hours only for
these twelve hundred miles! Verily it might be thought
that no human power would henceforth be able to check
the speed of the Albatross, and as if the resultant of her
force of projection and the attraction of the earth would
maintain her in an unvarying trajectory round the globe.

But she did stop nevertheless, and that was over the
famous fall of the Rjukanfos in Norway. Gousta, whose
summit dominates this wonderful region of Tellemarken,
stood in the west like a gigantic barrier apparently impas-
sable. And when the Albatross resumed her journey at
full speed her head had been turned to the south.

And during this extraordinary flight what was Fry-
collin doing? He remained silent in a corner of his cabin,
sleeping as well as he could, except at meal times.

Tapage then favored him with his company — and amused

THE AERONEF AT FULL SPEED 83

himself at his expense. "Eh! eh! my boy!" said he.
" So you are not crying any more ? Perhaps it hurt you
too much? That two hours' hanging cured you of_ it?
At our present rate, what a splendid air-bath you might
have for your rheumatics ! "

" It seems to me we shall soon go to pieces ! "

"Perhaps so; but we shall go so fast we shan't have
time to fall ! That is some comfort ! "

"Do you think so?"

" I do."

To tell the truth, and not to exaggerate like Tapage, it
was only reasonable that owing to the excessive speed the
work of the suspensory screws should be somewhat
lessened. The Albatross glided on its bed of air like a
Congreve rocket.

"And shall we last long like that?" asked Frycollin.

"Long? Oh, no; only as long as we live!"

" Oh! " said the negro, beginning his lamentations.

"Take care, Fry, take care! for, as they say in my
country, the master may send you to the seesaw ! "

And Frycollin gulped down his sobs as he gulped down
the meat which, in double doses, he was hastily swallowing.

Meanwhile Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, who were
not men to waste time in wrangling when nothing could
come of it, agreed upon doing something. It was evident
that escape was not to be thought of. But if it was im-
possible for them to again set foot on the terrestrial globe,
could they not make known to its inhabitants what had be-
come of them since their disappearance, and tell them by
whom they had been carried off, and provoke— how was
not very clear — some audacious attempt on the part of their
friends to rescue them from Robur?

Communicate? But how? Should they follow the ex-
ample of sailors in distress and enclose in a bottle 3. docu-
ment giving the place of shipwreck and throw it into the
sea? But here the sea was the atmosphere. The bottle
would not swim. And if it did not fall on somebody and
crack his skull it might never be found.

The colleagues were about to sacrifice one of the bottles
on board when an idea occurred to Uncle Prudent. _ He
took snuff, as we know, and we may pardon this fault in an
American, who might do worse. And as a snuff-taker he

84 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

possessed a snuff-box, which was now empty. This box
was made of aluminium. If it was thrown overboard any,
honest citizen that found it would pick it up, and, being
an honest citizen, he would take it to the police-office, and
there they would open it and discover from the document
what had become of the two victims of Robur the Con-
queror !

And this is what was done. The note was short, but it
told all, and it gave the address of the Weldon Institute,
with a request that it might be forwarded. Then Uncle
Prudent folded up the note, shut it in the box, and bound
the box round with a piece of worsted so as to keep it
from opening as it fell. And then all that had to be done
was to wait for a favorable opportunity.

During this marvelous flight over Europe it was not an
easy thing to leave the cabin and creep along the deck at
the risk of being suddenly and secretly blown away, and it
would not do for the snuff-box to fall into the sea or a
gulf or a lake or a watercourse, for it would then perhaps
be lost. At the same time it was not impossible that the
colleagues might in this way get into communication with
the habitable globe.

It was then growing daylight, and it seemed as though
it would be better to wait for the night and take advantage
of a slackening speed or a halt to go out on deck and
drop the precious snuff-box into some town.

When all these points had been thought over and settled,
the prisoners found they could not put their plan into ex-
ecution— on that day, at all events — for the Albatross, after
leaving Gousta, had kept her southerly course, which took
her over the North Sea, much to the consternation of the
thousands of coasting craft engaged in the English, Dutch,
French, and Belgian trade. Unless the snuff-box fell on
the deck of one of these vessels there was every chance
of its going to the bottom of the sea, and Uncle Prudent
and Phil Evans were obliged to wait for a better oppor-
tunity. And, as we shall immediately see, an excellent
chance was soon to be offered them.

At ten o'clock that evening the Albatross reached the
French coast near Dunkerque. The night was rather
dark. For a moment they could see the lighthouse at
Grisnez cross its electric beam with the lights from Dover

THE AERONEF AT FULL SPEED 85

on the other side of the strait. Then the Albatross flew
over the French territory at a mean height of three
thousand feet.

There was no diminution in her speed. She shot like a
rocket over the towns and villages so numerous in northern
France. She was flying straight on to Paris, and after
Dunkerque came Doullens, Amiens, Creil, Saint Denis.
She never left the line; and about midnight she was over
the "city of light," which merits its name even when its
inhabitants are asleep — or ought to be.

By what strange whim was it that she was stopped over
the city of Paris? We do not know; but down she came
till she was within a few hundred feet of the ground.
Robur then came out of his cabin, and the crew came on
to the deck to breathe the ambient air.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans took care not to miss
such an excellent opportunity. They left their deck-house
and walked off away from the others so as to be ready at
the propitious moment. It was important their action
should not be seen.

The Albatross, like a huge coleopter, glided gently over
the mighty city. She took the line of the boulevards, then
brilliantly lighted by the Edison lamps. Up to her there
floated the rumble of the vehicles as they drove along the
streets, and the roll of the trains on the numerous railways
that converge into Paris. Then she glided over the highest
monuments as if she was going to knock the ball off the
Pantheon or the cross off the Invalides. She hovered over
the two minarets of the Trocadero and the metal tower
of the Champ de Mars, where the enormous reflector was
inundating the whole capital with its electric rays.

This aerial promenade, this nocturnal loitering, lasted
for about an hour. It was a halt for breath before the
voyage was resumed. .

And probably Robur wished to give the Parisians the
sight of a meteor quite unforeseen by their astrono-
mers. The lamps of the Albatross were turned on. Two
brilliant sheaves of light shot down and moved along
over the squares, the gardens, the palaces, the sixty thou-
sand houses, and swept the space from one horizon to
the other.

Assuredly the Albatross was seen this time— and not

86 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

only well seen but heard, for Tom Turner brought out his
trumpet and blew a rousing tarantaratara.

At this moment Uncle Prudent leant over the rail, opened
his hand, and let his snuff-box fall.

Immediately the Albatross shot upwards, and past her,
higher still, there mounted the noisy cheering of the crowd
then thick on the boulevards — a hurrah of stupefaction to
greet the imaginary meteor.

The lamps of the aeronef were turned off, and the dark-
ness and the silence closed in around as the voyage was re-
sumed at the rate of one hundred and twenty miles an hour.

This was all that was to be seen of the French capital.
At four o'clock in the morning the Albatross had crossed
the whole country obliquely; and so as to lose no time in
traversing the Alps or the Pyrenees, she flew over the
face of Provence to the cape of Antibes. At nine o'clock
next morning the San Pietrini assembled on the terrace
of St. Peter at Rome were astounded to see her pass over
the eternal city. Two hours afterwards she crossed the
Bay of Naples and hovered for an instant over the
fuliginous wreaths of Vesuvius. Then, after cutting
obliquely across the Mediterranean, in the early hours of
the afternoon she was signaled by the look-outs at La
Goulette on the Tunisian coast.

_ After America, Asia ! After Asia, Europe ! More than
eighteen thousand miles had this wonderful machine ac-
complished in less than twenty-three days!

And now she was off over the known and unknown
regions of Africa!

It may be interesting to know what had happened to
the famous snuff-box after its fall?

It had fallen in the Rue de Rivoli, opposite No. 200,
when the street was deserted. In the morning it was
picked up by an honest sweeper, who took it to the pre-
fecture of police.

There it was at first supposed to be an infernal machine.
And it was untied, examined, and opened with care.

Suddenly a sort of explosion took place. It was a terrific
sneeze on the part of the inspector.

The document was then extracted from the snuff-box,
and, to the general surprise, read as follows :

THE AERONEF AT FULL SPEED 87

" Messrs. Prudent and Evans, president and secretary of
the Weldon Institute, Philadelphia, have been carried off
in the aeronef Albatross belonging to Robur the engineer.

" Please inform our friends and acquaintances."

" P. and P. E."

Thus was the strange phenomenon at last explained to
the people of the two worlds. Thus was peace given to
the scientists of the numerous observatories on the surface
of the terrestrial globe.

CHAPTER XV

A SKIRMISH IN DAHOMEY

At this point in the circumnavigatory voyage of the Al-
batross it is only natural that some such questions as the
following should be asked. Who was this Robur, of whom
up to the present we know nothing but the name? Did he
pass his life in the air? Did his aeronef never rest? Had
he not some retreat in some inaccessible spot in which, if
he had need of repose or revictualing, he could betake him-
self? It would be very strange if it were not so. The
most powerful flyers have always an eyrie or nest some-
where.

And what was the engineer going to do with his pris-
oners? Was he going to keep them in his power and con-
demn them to perpetual aviation? Or was he going to
take them on a trip over Africa, South America, Aus-
tralasia, • the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic, and the Pacific,
to convince them against their will, and then dismiss them
with, " And now, gentlemen, I hope you will believe a little
more in heavier than air" ?

To these questions it is now impossible to reply. They
are the secrets of the future. Perhaps the answers will be
revealed.

Anyhow the bird-like Robur was not seeking his nest
on the northern frontier of Africa. By the end of the
day he had traversed Tunis from Cape Bon to Cape
Carthage, sometimes hovering, and sometimes darting
along at top speed. Soon he reached the interior, and flew
down the beautiful valley of Medjeida above its yellow
stream hidden under its luxuriant bushes of cactus and
oleander; and scared away the hundreds of parrots that

88 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

perch on the telegraph wires and seem to wait for the mes-
sages to pass to bear them away beneath their wings.

Two hours after sunset the helm was put up and the
Albatross bore off to the southeast; and on the morrow,
after clearing the Tell Mountains, she saw the rising of the
morning star over the sands of the Sahara.

On the 30th of July there was seen from the aeronef the
little village of Geryville, founded like Laghouat on the
frontier of the desert to facilitate the future conquest of
Kabylia. Next, not without difficulty, the peaks of Stillero
were passed against a somewhat boisterous wind. Then
the desert was crossed, sometimes leisurely over the Ksars
or green oases, sometimes at terrific speed that far out-
stripped the flight of the vultures. Often the crew had
to fire into the flocks of these birds which, a dozen or so
at a time, fearlessly hurled themselves on to the aeronef
to the extreme terror of Frycollin.

But if the vultures could only reply with cries and blows
of beaks and talons, the natives, in no way less savage,
were not sparing of their musket-shots, particularly when
crossing the Mountain of Sel, whose green and violet slope
bore its cape of white. Then the Albatross was at last over
the grand Sahara; and at once she rose into the higher
zones so as to escape from a simoom which was sweeping
a wave of ruddy sand along the surface of the ground like
a bore on the surface of the sea.

Then the desolate table-lands of Chetka scattered their
ballast in blackish waves up to the fresh and verdant valley
of Ain-Massin. It is difficult to conceive the variety of
the territories which could be seen at one view. To the
green hills covered with trees and shrubs there succeeded
long gray undulations draped like the folds of an Arab
burnous and broken in picturesque masses. In the distance
could be seen the wadys with their torrential waters, their
forests of palm-trees, and blocks of small houses grouped
on a hill around a mosque, among them Metlili, where there
vegetates a religious chief, the grand marabout Sidi Chick.

Before night several hundred miles had been accom-
plished above a flattish country ridged occasionally with'
large sand-hills. If the Albatross had halted, she would
have come to the earth in the depths of the Wargla oasis
hidden beneath an immense forest of palm-trees. The

A SKIRMISH IN DAHOMEY 89

town was clearly enough displayed with its three distinct
quarters, the ancient palace of the Sultan, a kind of fortified
Kasbah, houses of brick which had been left to the sun to
bake, and artesian wells dug in the valley where the aeronef
could have renewed her water supply. But, thanks to her
extraordinary speed, the waters of the Hydaspes taken in
the vale of Cashmere still filled her tanks in the center of
the African desert.

Was the Albatross seen by the Arabs, the Mozabites,
and the negroes who share amongst them the town of
Wargla? Certainly, for she was saluted with many hun-
dred gunshots, and the bullets fell back before they reached
her.

Then came the night, that silent night in the desert of
which Felicien David has so poetically told us the secrets.

During the following hours the course lay southwesterly,
cutting across the routes of El Golea, one of which was
explored in 1859 by the intrepid Duveyrier.

The darkness was profound. Nothing could be seen of
the Trans-Saharan Railway constructing on the plans of
Duponchel — a long ribbon of iron destined to bind together
Algiers and Timbuctoo by way of Laghouat and Gardaia,
and destined eventually to run down into the Gulf of
Guinea.

Then the Albatross entered the equatorial region below
the tropic of Cancer. Six hundred miles from the northern
frontier of the Sahara she crossed the route on which Major
Laing met his death in 1846, and crossed the road of the
caravans from Morocco to the Soudan, and that part of
the desert swept by the Tuaregs, where could be heard
what is called " the song of the sand," a soft and plaintive
murmur that seems to escape from the ground.

Only one thing happened. A cloud of locusts came
flying along, and there fell such a cargo of them on board
as to threaten to sink the ship. But all hands set to work
to clear the deck, and the locusts were thrown over except
a few hundreds kept by Tapage for his larder. And he
served them up in so succulent a fashion that Frycollin
forgot for the moment his perpetual trances and said,
" These are as good as prawns."

The aeronef was then eleven hundred miles from the
Wargla oasis and almost on the northern frontier of the

90 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

Soudan. About two o'clock in the afternoon a city ap-
peared in the bend of a large river. The river was the
Niger. The city was Timbuctoo.

If, up to then, this African Mecca had only been visited
by the travelers of the ancient world, Batouta, Khazan,
Imbert, Mungo Park, Adams, Laing, Caille, Barth, Lenz,
on that day by a most singular chance the two Americans
could boast of having seen, heard, and smelt it, on their
return to America — if they ever got back there.

Of having seen it, because their view included the whole
triangle of three or four miles in circumference; of having
heard it, because the day was one of some rejoicing and
the noise was terrible; of having smelt it, because the
olfactory nerve could not but be very disagreeably affected
by the odors of the Youbou-Kamo square, where the meat-
market stands close to the palace of the ancient Somai
kings.

The engineer had no notion of allowing the president
and secretary of the Weldon Institute to be ignorant that
they had the honor of contemplating the Queen of the
Soudan, now in the power of the Tuaregs of Taganet.

" Gentlemen, Timbuctoo ! " he said, in the same tone as
twelve days before he had said, "Gentlemen, India!"

Then he continued, " Timbuctoo is an important city of
from twelve to thirteen thousand inhabitants, formerly
illustrious in science and art. Perhaps you would like to
stay there for a day or two ? "

Such a proposal could only have been made ironically.
" But," continued he, " it would be dangerous among the
Negroes, Berbers, and Foullanes who occupy it — particu-
larly as our arrival in an aeronef might prejudice them
against you."

" Sir," said Phil Evans, in the same tone, " for the pleas-
ure of leaving you we would willingly risk an unpleasant
reception from the natives. Prison for prison, we would
rather be in Timbuctoo than on the Albatross."

" That is a matter of taste," answered the engineer.
" Anyhow, I shall not try the adventure, for I am respon-
sible for the safety of the guests who do me the honor to
travel with me."

" And so," said Uncle Prudent, explosively, " you are not
content with being our jailer, but you insult us."

A SKIRMISH IN DAHOMEY 91

"Oh! a little irony, that is all! "

" Are there any weapons on board? "

" Oh! quite an arsenal."

" Two revolvers will do, if I hold one and you the
other."

" A duel ! " exclaimed Robur, " a duel, which would
perhaps cause the death of one of us."

" Which certainly would cause it."

"Well! No, Mr. President of the Weldon Institute, I
very much prefer keeping you alive."

" To be sure of living yourself. That is wise."

" Wise or not, it suits me. You are at liberty to think
as you like, and to complain to those who have the power
to help you — if you can."

" And that we have done, Mr. Robur."

"Indeed!"

" Was it so difficult when we were crossing the inhabited
part of Europe to drop a letter overboard?"

" Did you do that? " said Robur, in a paroxysm of rage.

" And if we have done it? "

"If you have done it — you deserve "

"What, sir?"

" To follow your letter overboard."

" Throw us over, then. We did do it "

Robur stepped towards them. At a gesture from him
Tom Turner and some of the crew ran up. The engineer
was seriously tempted to put his threat into execution, and,
fearful perhaps of yielding to it, he precipitately rushed
into his cabin.

" Good ! " exclaimed Phil Evans.

" And what he dare not do," said Uncle Prudent, " I
will do ! Yes, I will do ! "

At the moment the population of Timbuctoo were
crowding into the squares and roads and the terraces built
like amphitheaters. In the rich quarters of Sankere and
Sarahama, as in the miserable huts at Raguidi, the priests
from the minarets were thundering their loudest maledic-
tions against the aerial monster. These were more harm-
less than the rifle-bullets; though assuredly if the aeronef
had come to earth she would have certainly been torn to
pieces.

For some miles noisy flocks of storks, francolins, and

92 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

ibises escorted the Albatross and tried to race her, but in
her rapid flight she soon distanced them.

The evening came. The air was troubled by the roar-
ings of the numerous flocks of elphants and buffa-
loes which wander over this land, whose fertility is
simply marvelous. For forty-eight hours the whole of
the region between the prime meridian and the second de-
gree, in the bend of the Niger, was viewed from the Alba-
tross.

If a geographer had only such an apparatus at his com-
mand, with what facility could he map the country, note
the elevations, fix the courses of the rivers and their
affluents, and determine the positions of the towns and vil-
lages! There would then be no huge blanks on the map
of Africa, no dotted lines, no vague designations which are
the despair of cartographers.

In the morning of the nth the Albatross crossed the
mountains of northern Guinea, between the Soudan and
the gulf which bears their name. On the horizon was the
confused outline of the Kong mountains in the kingdom of
Dahomey.

Since the departure from Timbuctoo Uncle Prudent and
Phil Evans noticed that the course had been due south.
If that direction was persisted in they would cross the
equator in six more degrees. The Albatross would then
abandon the continents and fly not over the Behring Sea,
or the Caspian Sea, or the North Sea, or the Mediterranean,
but over the Atlantic Ocean.

This look-out was not particularly pleasing to the two
friends, whose chances of escape had sunk to below
zero.

But the Albatross had slackened speed as though hesitat-
ing to leave Africa behind. Was Robur thinking of going
back? No; but his attention had been particularly attracted
to the country which he was then crossing.

We know — and he knew — that the kingdom of Dahomey
is one of the most powerful on the West Coast of Africa.
Strong enough to hold its own with its neighbor Ashantee,
its area is somewhat small, being contained within three
hundred and sixty leagues from north to south, and one
hundred and eighty from east to west. But its population
numbers some seven or eight hundred thousand, including

A SKIRMISH IN DAHOMEY 93

the neighboring independent territories of Whydah and
Ardrah.

If Dahomey is not a large country, it is often talked
about. It is celebrated for the frightful cruelties which
signalize its annual festivals, and by its human sacrifices —
fearful hecatombs intended to honor the sovereign it has
lost and the sovereign who has succeeded him. It is even,
a matter of politeness when the King of Dahomey receives
a visit from some high personage or some foreign am-
bassador to give him a surprise present of a dozen heads,
cut off in his honor by the minister of justice, the
" minghan," who is wonderfully skillful in that branch of
his duties.

When the Albatross came flying over Dahomey the old
King Bahadou had just died, and the whole population was
proceeding to the enthronization of his successor. Hence
there was great agitation all over the country, and it did
not escape Robur that everybody was on the move.

Long lines of Dahomians were hurrying along the roads
from the country into the capital, Abomey. Well kept
roads radiating among vast plains clothed with giant trees,
immense fields of manioc, magnificent forests of palms,
cocoa-trees, mimosas, orange-trees, mango-trees — such was
the country whose perfumes mounted to the Albatross,
while many parrots and cardinals swarmed among the trees.

The engineer, leaning over the rail, seemed deep in
thought, and exchanged but a few words with Tom Turner.
It did not look as though the Albatross had attracted the
attention of those moving masses, which were often in-
visible under the impenetrable roof of trees. This was
doubtless due to her keeping at a good altitude amid a
bank of light cloud.

About eleven o'clock in the morning the capital was
sighted, surrounded by its walls, defended by a fosse
measuring twelve miles round, with wide, regular streets
on the flat plain, and a large square on the northern side
occupied by the king's palace. This huge collection of
buildings is commanded by a terrace not far from the place
of sacrifice. During the festival days it is from this high
terrace that they throw the prisoners tied up in wicker
baskets, and it can be imagined with what fury these un-
happy wretches are cut in pieces.

94 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

In one of the courtyards which divide the king's palace
there were drawn up four thousand warriors, one of the
contingents of the royal army — and not the least coura-
geous one.

If it is doubtful if there are any Amazons on the river of
that name, there is no doubt of there being Amazons at
Dahomey. Some have a blue shirt with a blue or red scarf,
with white-and-blue striped trousers and a white cap;
others, the elephant-huntresses, have a heavy carbine, a
short-bladed dagger, and two antelope horns fixed to their
heads by a band of iron. The artillery-women have a blue-
and-red tunic, and, as weapons, blunderbusses and old cast
cannons; and another brigade, consisting of vestal virgins
pure as Diana, have blue tunics and white trousers. If we
add to these Amazons five or six thousand men in
cotton drawers and shirts, with a knotted tuft to increase
their stature, we shall have passed in review the Dahomian
army.

Abomey on this day was deserted. The sovereign, the
royal family, the masculine and feminine army, and the
population had all gone out of the capital to a vast plain
a few miles away surrounded by magnificent forests.

On this plain the recognition of the new king was to take
place. Here it was that thousands of prisoners taken
during recent razzias were to be immolated in his honor.

It was about two o'clock when the Albatross arrived
over the plain and began to descend among the clouds
which still hid her from the Dahomians.

There were sixteen thousand people at least come from
all parts of the kingdom, from Whydah, and Kerapay, and
Ardrah, and Tombory, and the most distant villages.

The new king — a sturdy fellow named Bou-Nadi — some
flve-and-twenty years old, was seated on a hillock shaded
by a group of wide-branched trees. Before him stood his
male army, his Amazons, and his people.

At the foot of the mound fifty musicians were playing
on their barbarous instruments, elephants' tusks giving
forth a husky note, deerskin drums, calabashes, guitars,
bells struck with an iron clapper, and bamboo flutes, whose
shrill whistle was heard over all. Every other second
came discharges of guns and blunderbusses, discharges of
cannons with the carriages jumping so as to imperil the

A SKIRMISH IN DAHOMEY 95

lives of the artillery-women, and a general uproar so intense
that even the thunder would be unheard amidst it.

In one corner of the plain, under a guard of soldiers,
were grouped the prisoners destined to accompany the
defunct king into the other world. At the obsequies of
Ghozo, the father of Bahadou, his son had dispatched
three thousand, and Bou-Nadi could not do less than his
predecessor. For an hour there was a series of discourses,
harangues, palavers and dances, executed not only by pro-
fessionals, but by the Amazons, who displayed much
martial grace.

But the time for the hecatomb was approaching. Robur,
who knew the customs of Dahomey, did not lose sight of
the men, women, and children reserved for butchery.

The minghan was standing at the foot of the hillock.
He was brandishing his exeuctioner's sword, with its
curved blade surmounted by a metal bird, whose weight
rendered the cut more certain.

This time he was not alone. He could not have per-
formed the task. Near him were grouped a hundred
executioners, all accustomed to cut off heads at one blow.

The Albatross came slowly down in an oblique direction.
Soon she emerged from the bed of clouds which hid her
till she was within three hundred feet of the ground, and
for the first time she was visible from below.

Contrary to what had hitherto happened, the savages
saw in her a celestial being come to render homage to King
Bahadou. The enthusiasm was indescribable, the shouts
were interminable, the prayers were terrific — prayers ad-
dressed to this supernatural hippogriff, which had doubtless
come to take the king's body to the higher regions of the
Dahomian heaven.

And now the first head fell under the minghan's sword,
and the prisoners were led up in hundreds before the hor-
rible executioners.

Suddenly a gun was fired from the Albatross. The
minister of justice fell dead on his face.

" Well aimed, Tom! " said Robur.

His comrades, armed as he was, stood ready to fire
when the order was given.

But a change came over the crowd below. They had
understood. The winged monster was not a friendly spirit,

96 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

it was a hostile spirit. And after the fall of the minghan
loud shouts for revenge arose on all sides. Almost imme-
diately a fusillade resounded over the plain.

These menaces did not prevent the Albatross from
descending boldly to within a hundred and fifty feet of the
ground. Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, whatever were
their feelings towards Robur, could not help joining him in
such a work of humanity.

" Let use free the prisoners ! " they shouted.

" That is what I am going to do ! " said the engineer.

And the magazine rifles of the Albatross in the hands
of the colleagues, as in the hands of the crew, began to rain
down the bullets, of which not one was lost in the masses
below. And the little gun shot forth its shrapnel, which
really did marvels.

The prisoners, although they did not understand how
the help had come to them, broke their bonds, while the
soldiers were firing at the aeronef. The stern screw was
shot through by a bullet, and a few holes were made in the
hull. Frycollin, crouching in his cabin, received a graze
from a bullet that came through the deck-house.

" Ah ! They will have them ! " said Tom Turner. And,
rushing to the magazine, he returned with a dozen dynamite
cartridges, which he distributed to the men. At a sign
from Robur these cartridges were fired at the hillock, and
as they reached the ground exploded like so many small
shells.

The king and his court and 'army and people were
stricken with fear at the turn things had taken. They fled
under the trees, while the prisoners ran off without anybody
thinking of pursuing them.

In this way was the festival interfered with. And in
this way did Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans recognize the
power of the aeronef and the services it could render to
humanity.

Soon the Albatross rose again to a moderate height,
and passing over Whydah lost to view this savage coast
which the southwest wind hems round with an inaccessible
surf. And she flew out over the Atlantic.

CHAPTER XVI

OVER THE ATLANTIC

Yes, the Atlantic! The fears of the two colleagues
were realized ; but it did not seem as though Robur had the
least anxiety about venturing over this vast ocean. Both
he and his men seemed quite unconcerned about it, and
had gone back to their stations.

Whither was the Albatross bound? Was she going
more than round the world as Robur had said? Even if
she were, the voyage must end somewhere. That Robur
spent his life in the air on board the aeronef and never
came to the ground was impossible. How could he make
up his stock of provisions and the materials required for
working his machines ? He must have some retreat, some
harbor of refuge in some unknown and inaccessible spot
where the Albatross could revictual. That he had broken
off all connection with the inhabitants of the land might be
true, but with every point on the surface of the earth, cer-
tainly not.

That being the case, where was this point? How had
the engineer come to choose it? Was he expected by a
little colony of which he was the chief? Could he there
find a new crew?

What means had he that he should be able to build so
costly a vessel as the Albatross and keep her building
secret? It is true his living was not expensive. But,
finally, who was this Robur? Where did he come from?
What had been his history? Here were riddles impossible
to solve; and Robur was not the man to assist willingly in
their solution.

It is not to be wondered at that these insoluble problems
drove the colleagues almost to frenzy. To find themselves
whipped off into the unknown without knowing what the
end might be, doubting even if the adventure would end,
sentenced to perpetual aviation, was this not enough to
drive the president and secretary of the Weldon Institute
to extremities?

Meanwhile the Albatross drove along above the Atlantic,
and in the morning when the sun rose there was nothing
to be seen but the circular line where earth met sky. Not
a spot of land was in sight in this huge field of vision.
Africa had vanished beneath the northern horizon.

V. XIV V«rae 57

98 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

VVhen Frycollin ventured out of his cabin and saw all
this water beneath him, fear took possession of him.

Of the hundred and forty-five million square miles of
which the area of the world's waters consists, the Atlantic
claims about a quarter; and it seemed as though the engi-
neer was in no hurry to cross it. There was now no going
at full speed, none of the hundred and twenty miles an
hour at which the Albatross had flown over Europe. Here,
where the southwest winds prevail, the wind was ahead of
them, and though it was not very strong, it would not do
to defy it. And the Albatross was sent along at a moderate
speed, which, however, easily outstripped that of the fastest
mail-boat.

On the 13th of July she crossed the line, and the fact
was duly announced to the crew. It was then that Uncle
Prudent and Phil Evans ascertained that they were bound
for the southern hemisphere. The crossing of the line took
place without any of the Neptunian ceremonies that still
linger on certain ships. Tapage was the only one to mark
the event, and he did so by pouring a pint of water down
Frycollin's neck.

On the 1 8th of July, when beyond the tropic of
Capricorn, another phenomenon was noticed, which would
have been somewhat alarming to a ship on the sea. A!
strange succession of luminous waves widened out over the
surface of the ocean with a speed estimated at quite sixty
miles an hour. The waves ran along at about eighty feet
from one another, tracing two furrows of light. As night
fell a bright reflection rose even to the Albatross, so that
she might have been taken for a flaming aerolite. Never
before had Robur sailed on a sea of fire — a fire without
heat — which there was no need to flee from as it mounted
upwards into the sky.

The cause of this light must have been electricity; it
could not be attributed to a bank of fish spawn, nor to a
crowd of those animalculae that give phosphorescence to
the sea, and this showed that the electrical tension of the
atmosphere was considerable.

In the morning an ordinary ship would probably have
been lost. But the Albatross played with the winds and
waves like the powerful bird whose name she bore. If she
did not walk on their surface like the petrels, she could

OVER THE ATLANTIC 99

like the eagles find calm and sunshine in the higher zones.

They had now passed the forty-seventh parallel. The
day was but little over seven hours long, and would become
even less as they approached the Pole.

About one o'clock in the afternoon the Albatross was
floating along in a lower current than usual, about a hun-
dred feet from the level of the sea. The air was calm, but
in certain parts of the sky were thick black clouds, massed
in mountains on their upper surface, and ruled off below
by a sharp horizontal line. From these clouds a few
lengthy protuberances escaped, and their points as they fell
seemed to draw up hills of foaming water to meet them.

Suddenly the water shot up in the form of a gigantic
hour-glass, and the Albatross was enveloped in the eddy of
an enormous waterspout, while twenty others, black as ink,
raged around her. Fortunately the gyratory movement of
the water was opposite to that of the suspensory screws,
otherwise the aeronef would have been hurled into the sea.
But she began to spin round on herself with frightful
rapidity.

The danger was immense, and perhaps impossible to
escape, for the engineer could not get through the spout
which sucked him back in defiance of his propellers. The
men, thrown to the ends of the deck by centrifugal force,
were grasping the rail to save themselves from being shot
off.

" Keep cool ! " shouted Robur.

They wanted all their coolness, and their patience, too.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, who had just come out
of their cabin, were hurled back at the risk of flying over-
board.

As she spun the Albatross was carried along by the
spout, which pirouetted along the waves with a speed enough
to make the helices jealous. And if she escaped from the
spout she might be caught by another, and jerked to pieces
with the shock.

" Get the gun ready ! " said Robur.

The order was given to Tom Turner, who was crouching
behind the swivel amidships where the effect of the cen-
trifugal force was least felt. He understood. In a mo-
ment he had opened the breech and slipped in a cartridge
from the ammunition-box at hand. The gun went off, and

ioo ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

the waterspouts collapsed, and with them vanished the
platform of cloud they seemed to bear above them.

"Nothing broken on board?" asked Robur.

" No," answered Tom Turner. " But we don't want to
have another game of humming-top like that! "

For ten minutes or so the Albatross had been in extreme
peril. Had it not been for her extraordinary strength of
build she would have been lost.

During this passage of the Atlantic many were the hours
whose monotony was unbroken by any phenomenon what-
ever. The days grew shorter and shorter, and the cold be-
came keen. Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans saw little of
Robur. Seated in his cabin, the engineer was busy laying
out his course and marking it on his maps, taking his ob-
servations whenever he could, recording the readings of his
barometers, thermometers, and chronometers, and making
full entries in his log-book.

The colleagues wrapped themselves well up and eagerly
watched for the sight of land to the southward. At Uncle
Prudent's request Frycollin tried to pump the cook as to
whither the engineer was bound. But what reliance could
be placed on the information given by this Gascon? Some-
times Robur was an ex-minister of the Argentine Republic,
sometimes a lord of the Admiralty, sometimes an ex-Presi-
dent of the United States, sometimes a Spanish general
temporarily retired, sometimes a Viceroy of the Indies who
had sought a more elevated position in the air. Sometimes
he possessed millions, thanks to successful razzias in the
aeronef, and he had been proclaimed for piracy. Some-
times he had been ruined by making the aeronef, and had
been forced to fly aloft to escape from his creditors. As
to knowing if he were going to stop anywhere, no! But
if he thought of going to the moon, and found there a con-
venient anchorage, he would anchor there ! " Eh ! Fry !
my boy ! That would just suit you to see what was going
on up there."

" I shall not go! I refuse! " said the negro, who took all
these things seriously.

" And why, Fry, why? You might get married to some
pretty bouncing Lunarian ! "

Frycollin reported this conversation to his master, who
saw it was evident that nothing was to be learnt about

OVER THE ATLANTIC 101

Robur. And so he thought still more of how he could
have his revenge on him.

" Phil," said he one day, " is it quite certain that escape
is impossible? "

" Impossible."

" Be it so! But a man is always his own property; and
if necessary, by sacrificing his life "

" If we are to make that sacrifice," said Phil Evans, " the
sooner the better. It is almost time to end this. Where
is the Albatross going? Here we are flying obliquely over
the Atlantic, and if we keep on we shall get to the coast of
Patagonia or Tierra del Fuego. And what are we to do
then? Get into the Pacific, or go to the continent at the
South Pole? Everything is possible with this Robur. We
shall be lost in the end. It is thus a case of legitimate self-
defence, and if we must perish "

"Which we shall not do," answered Uncle Prudent,
" without being avenged, without annihilating this machine
and all she carries."

The colleagues had reached a stage of impotent fury,
and were prepared to sacrifice themselves if they could
only destroy the inventor and his secret. A few months
only would then be the life of this prodigious aeronef, of
whose superiority in aerial locomotion they had such con-
vincing proofs ! The idea took such hold of them that they
thought of nothing else but how to put it into execution.
And how? By seizing on some of the explosives on board
and simply blowing her up. But could they get at the
magazine !

Fortunately for them, Frycollin had no suspicion of their
scheme. At the thought of the Albatross exploding in mid-
air, he would not have shrunk from betraying his master.

It was on the 23d of July that the land reappeared in
the southwest near Cape Virgins at the entrance of the
Straits of Magellan. Under the fifty-second parallel at
this time of year the night was eighteen hours long and the
temperature was six below freezing.

At first the Albatross, instead of keeping on to the south,
followed the windings of the coast as if to enter the Pacific.
After passing Lomas Bay, leaving Mount Gregory to the
north and the Brecknocks to the west, they sighted Puerto
Arena, a small Chilian village, at the moment the church-

102 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

bells were in full swing; and a few hours later they were
over the old settlement at Port Famine.

If the Patagonians, whose fires could be seen occasionally,
were really above the average in stature, the passengers in
the aeronef were unable to say, for to them they seemed
to be dwarfs. But what a magnificent landscape opened
around during these short hours of the southern day!
Rugged mountains, peaks eternally capped with snow, with
thick forests rising on their flanks, inland seas, bays deep
set amid the peninsulas, and islands of the Archipelago.
Clarence Island, Dawson Island, and the Land of Desola-
tion, straits and channels, capes and promontories, all in in-
extricable confusion, and bound by the ice in one solid mass
from Cape Forward, the most southerly point of the Ameri-
can continent, to Cape Horn the most southerly point of the
New World.

When she reached Port Famine the Albatross resumed
her course to the south. Passing between Mount Tarn on
the Brunswick Peninsula and Mount Graves, she steered
for Mount Sarmiento, an enormous peak wrapped in snow,
which commands the Straits of Magellan, rising six thou-
sand four hundred feet from the sea. And now they were
over the land of the Fuegians, Tierra del Fuego, the land of
fire. Six months later, in the height of summer, with days
from fifteen to sixteen hours long, how beautiful and fertile
would most of this country be, particularly in its northern
portion! Then, all around would be seen valleys and pas-
turages that could form the feeding-grounds of thousands
of animals; then would appear virgin forests, gigantic trees
— birches, beeches, ash-trees, cypresses, tree-ferns — and
broad plains overrun by herds of guanacos, vicunas, and
ostriches. Now there were armies of penguins and
myriads of birds; and when the Albatross turned on her
electric lamps the guillemots, ducks, and geese came crowd-
ing on board enough to fill Tapage's larder a hundred times
and more.

Here was work for the cook, who knew how to bring out
the flavor of the game and keep down its peculiar oiliness.
And here was work for Frycollin in plucking dozen after
dozen of such interesting feathered friends.

That day, as the sun was setting about three o'clock in
the afternoon, there appeared in sight a large lake framed

OVER THE ATLANTIC 103

in a border of superb forest. The lake was completely
frozen over, and a few natives with long snowshoes on their
feet were swiftly gliding over it.

At the sight of the Albatross, the Fuegians, overwhelmed
with terror, scattered in all directions, and when they could
not get away they hid themselves, taking, like the animals,
to the holes in the ground.

The Albatross still held her southerly course, crossing the
Beagle Channel, and Navarin Island and Wollaston Island,
on the shores of the Pacific. Then, having accomplished
4,700 miles since she left Dahomey, she passed the last
islands of the Magellanic archipelago, whose most southerly
outpost, lashed by the everlasting surf, is the terrible Cape
Horn.

CHAPTER XVII

THE SHIPWRECKED CREW

Next day was the 24th of July; and the 24th of July in
the southern hemisphere corresponds to the 24th of January
in the northern. The fifty-sixth degree of latitude had
been left behind. The similar parallel in northern Europe
runs through Edinburgh.

The thermometer kept steadily below freezing, so that
the machinery was called upon to furnish a little artificial
heat in the cabins. Although the days begin to lengthen
after the 21st of June in the southern hemisphere, yet the
advance of the Albatross towards the Pole more than
neutralized this increase, and consequently the daylight be-
came very short. There was thus very little to be seen.
At night time the cold became very keen ; but as there Was
no scarcity of clothing on board, the colleagues, well
wrapped up, remained a good deal on deck thinking over
their plans of escape, and watching for an opportunity.
Little was seen of Robur; since the high words that had
been exchanged in the Timbuctoo country, the engineer had
left off speaking to his prisoners.

Frycollin seldom came out of the cook-house, where
Tapage treated him most hospitably, on condition that he
acted as his assistant. This position was not without its
advantages, and the negro, with his master's permission,
very willingly accepted it. Shut up in the1 galley, he saw

104 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

nothing of what was passing outside, and might even con-
sider himself beyond the reach of danger. He was, in fact,
very like the ostrich, not only in his stomach, but in his
folly.

But whither went the Albatross ? Was she in mid-winter
bound for the southern seas or continents round the Pole?
In this icy atmosphere, even granting that the elements of
the batteries were unaffected by such frost, would not all
the crew succumb to a horrible death from the cold? That
Robur should attempt to cross the Pole in the warm season
was bad enough, but to attempt such a thing in the depth of
the winter night would be the act of a madman.

Thus reasoned the President and Secretary of the Weldon
Institute, now they had been brought to the end of the
continent of the New World, which is still America, al-
though it does not belong to the United States.

What was this intractable Robur going to do? Had not
the time arrived for them to end the voyage by blowing up
the ship?

It was noticed that during the 24th of July the engineer
had frequent consultations with his mate. He and Tom
Turner kept constant watch on the barometer — not so much
to keep themselves informed of the height at which they
were traveling as to be on the look-out for a change in the
weather. Evidently some indications had been observed of
which it was necessary to make careful note.

Uncle Prudent also remarked that Robur had been taking
stock of the provisions and stores, and everything seemed to
show that he was contemplating turning back.

"Turning back!" said Phil Evans. "But where to?"
" Where he can reprovision the ship," said Uncle Prudent.
" That ought to be in some lonely island in the Pacific
with a colony of scoundrels worthy of their chief."

" That is what I think. I fancy he is going west, and
with the speed he can get up it would not take him long
to get home."

" But we should not be able to put our plan into execu-
tion. If we get there "

" We shall not get there ! "

The colleagues had partly guessed the engineer's inten-
tions. During the day it became no longer doubtful that
when the Albatross reached the confines of the Antarctic

THE SHIPWRECKED CREW 105

Sea her course was to be changed. When the ice has
formed about Cape Horn the lower regions of the Pacific
are covered with ice-fields and icebergs. The floes then
form an impenetrable barrier to the strongest ships and the
boldest navigators.

Of course, by increasing the speed of her wings the
Albatross could clear the mountain of ice accumulated on
the ocean as she could the mountains of earth on the polar
continent — if it is a continent that forms the cap of the
southern pole. But would she attempt it in the middle of
the polar night, in an atmosphere of sixty below freezing?

After she had advanced about a hundred miles to the
south the Albatross headed westerly, as if for some un-
known island of the Pacific. Beneath her stretched the
liquid plain between Asia and America. The waters now
had assumed that singular color which has earned for them
the name of the Milky Sea. In the half shadow, which the
enfeebled rays of the sun were unable to dissipate, the sur-
face of the Pacific was a milky white. It seemed like a
vast snowfield, whose undulations were imperceptible at such
a height. If the sea had been solidified by the cold, and
converted into an immense icefield, its aspect could not have
been much different. They knew that the phenomenon was
produced by myriads of luminous particles or phosphores-
cent corpuscles; but it was surprising to come across such
an opalescent mass beyond the limits of the Indian Ocean.

Suddenly the barometer fell after keeping somewhat high
during the earlier hours of the day. Evidently the indica-
tions were such as a shipmaster might feel anxious at,
though the master of an aeronef might despise them. There
was every sign that a terrible storm had recently raged in
the Pacific.

It was one o'clock in the afternoon when Tom Turner
came up to the engineer and said, " Do you see that black
spot on the horizon, sir — there away to due north of us?
That is not a rock? "

" No, Tom ; there is no land out there."

" Then it must be a ship or a boat."

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, who were in the bow,
looked in the direction pointed out by the mate.

Robur asked for the glass and attentively observed the
object.

106 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

" It is a boat," said he, " and there are some men in it."

" Shipwrecked ? " asked Tom.

" Yes ! They have had to abandon their ship, and know-
ing nothing of the nearest land, are perhaps dying of hunger
and thirst! Well, it shall not be said that the Albatross
did not come to their help ! "

The orders were given, and the aeronef began to sink
towards the sea. At three hundred yards from it the
descent was stopped, and the propellers drove ahead full
speed towards the north.

It was a boat. Her sail flapped against the mast as she
rose and fell on the waves. There was no wind, and she
was making no progress. Doubtless there was no one on
board with strength enough left to work the oars. In the
boat were five men asleep or helpless, if they were not dead.

The Albatross had arrived above them, and slowly de-
scended. On the boat's stern was the name of the ship to
which she belonged — the Jeannette of Nantes.

" Hallo, there ! " shouted Turner, loud enough for the
men to hear, for the boat was only eighty feet below him.

There was no answer. " Fire a gun ! " said Robur.

The gun was fired and the report rang out over the sea.

One of the men looked up feebly. His eyes were
haggard and his face was that of a skeleton. As he caught
sight of the Albatross he made a gesture as of fear.

" Don't be afraid," said Robur in French, " we have come
to help you. Who are you? "

" We belong to the barque Jeannette, and I am the mate.
We left her a fortnight ago as she was sinking. We have
no water and no food."

The four other men had now sat up. Wan and ex-
hausted, in a terrible state of emaciation, they lifted their
hands towards the Albatross.

" Look out ! " shouted Robur.

A line was let down, and a pail of fresh water was low-
ered into the boat. The men snatched at it and drank it
with an eagerness awful to see.

" Bread, bread ! " they exclaimed.

Immediately a basket with some food and five pints of
coffee descended towards them. The mate with difficulty
restrained them in their ravenousness.

" Where are we? " asked the mate at last.

THE SHIPWRECKED CREW 107

" Fifty miles from the Chili coast and the Chonos Archi-
pelago," answered Robur.

" Thanks. But we are becalmed, and "

" We are going to tow you."

"Who are you? "

" People ivho are glad to be of assistance to you," said
Robur.

The mate understood that the incognito was to be re-
spected. But had the flying machine sufficient power to
tow them through the water?

Yes; and the boat, attached to a hundred feet of rope,
began to move off towards the east. At ten o'clock at
night the land was sighted — or rather they could see the
lights which indicated its position. This rescue from the
sky had come just in time for the survivors of the Jeannette,
and they had good reason to believe it miraculous.

When they had been taken to the month of the channel
leading among the Chonos Islands, Robur shouted to them
to cast off the tow-line. This, with many a blessing to
those who had saved them, they did, and the Albatross
headed out to the offing.

Certainly there was some good in this aernoef, which
could thus help those who were lost at sea ! What balloon,
perfect as it might be, would be able to perform such a
service ? And between themselves Uncle Prudent and Phil
Evans could not but admit it, although they were quite dis-
posed to deny the evidence of their senses.

CHAPTER XVIII

OVER THE VOLCANO

The sea was as rough as ever, and the symptoms became
alarming. The barometer fell several millimeters. The
wind came in violent gusts, and then for a moment or so
failed altogether. Under such circumstances a sailing vessel
wouldhave had two reefs in her topsails and a reef in her
foresail. Everything showed that the wind was rising in
the northwest. The storm-glass became much troubled and
its movements were most disquieting.

At one o'clock in the morning the wind came on again
with extreme violence. Although the aeronef was going

io8 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

right in its teeth she was still making progress at a rate of
from twelve to fifteen miles an hour. But that was the
utmost she could do.

Evidently preparations must be made for a cyclone, a
very rare occurrence in these latitudes. Whether it be
called a hurricane, as in the Atlantic, a typhoon, as in Chi-
nese waters, a simoom, as in the Sahara, or a tornado, as on
the western coast, such a storm is always a gyratory one,
and most dangerous for any ship caught in the current
which increases from the circumference to the center, and
has only one spot of calm, the middle of the vortex.

Robur knew this. He also knew it was best to escape
from the cyclone and get beyond its zone of attraction by
ascending to the higher strata. Up to then he had always
succeeded in doing this, but now he had not an hour, per-
haps not a minute, to lose.

In fact the violence of the wind sensibly increased. The
crests of the waves were swept off as they rose and blown
into white dust on the surface of the sea. It was manifest
that the cyclone was advancing with fearful velocity straight
towards the regions of the pole.

" Higher ! " said Robur.

" Higher it is," said Tom Turner.

An extreme ascensional power was communicated to the
aeronef, and she shot up slantingly as if she was traveling
on a plane sloping downwards from the southwest. Sud-
denly the barometer fell more than a dozen millimeters and
the Albatross paused in her ascent.

What was the cause of the stoppage? Evidently she was
pulled back by the air; some formidable current had
diminished the resistance to the screws. When a steamer
travels up stream more work is got out of her screw than
when the water is running between the blades. The recoil
is then considerable, and may perhaps be as great as the
current. It was thus with the Albatross at this moment.

But Robur was not the man to give in. His seventy-
four screws, working perfectly together, were driven at
their maximum speed. But the aeronef could not escape;
the attraction of the cyclone was irresistible. During the
few moments of calm she began to ascend, but the heavy
pull soon drew her back, and she sunk like a ship as she
founders.

OVER THE VOLCANO 109

Evidently if the violence of the cyclone went on increas-
ing the Albatross would be but as a straw caught in one of
those whirlwinds that root up the trees, carry off roofs, and
blow down walls.

Robur and Tom could only speak by signs. Uncle
Prudent and Phil Evans clung to the rail and wondered if
the cyclone was not playing their game in destroying the
aeronef and with her the inventor, and with the inventor the
secret of his invention.

But if the Albatross could not get out of the cyclone
vertically could she not do something else? Could she
not gain the center, where it was comparatively calm, and
where they would have more control over her ? Quite so ;
but to do this she would have to break through the circular
currents which were sweeping her round with them. Had
she sufficient mechanical power to escape through them?

Suddenly the upper part of the cloud fell in. The vapor
condensed in torrents of rain. It was two o'clock in the
morning. The barometer, oscillating over a range of
twelve millimeters, had now fallen to 27.91, and from this
something should be taken on account of the height of the
aeronef above the level of the sea.

Strange to say, the cyclone was out of the zone to which
such storms are generally restricted, such zone being
bounded by the thirtieth parallel of north latitude and the
twenty-sixth parallel of south latitude. This may perhaps
explain why the eddying storm suddenly turned into a
straight one. But what a hurricane! The tempest in
Connecticut on the 226. of March, 1882, could only have
been compared to it, and the speed of that was more than
three hundred miles an hour.

The Albatross had thus to fly before the wind or rather
she had to be left to be driven by the current, from which
she could neither mount nor escape. But in following this
unchanging trajectory she was bearing due south, towards
those polar regions which Robur had endeavored to avoid.
And now he was no longer master of her course; she would
go where the hurricane took her.

Tom Turner was at the helm, and it required all his skill
to keep her straight. In the first hours of the morning — if
we can so call the vague tint which began to rise over the
horizon — the Albatross was fifteen degrees below Cape

no ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

Horn ; twelve hundred miles more and she would cross the
antarctic circle. Where she was, in this month of July, the
night lasted nineteen hours and a half. The sun's disk —
without warmth, without light — only appeared above the
horizon to disappear almost immediately. At the pole the
night lengthened into one of a hundred and seventy-nine
hours. Everything showed that the Albatross was about to
plunge into an abyss.

During the day an observation, had it been possible,
would have given 66° 40' south latitude. The aeronef was
within fourteen hundred miles of the pole.

Irresistibly was she drawn towards this inaccessible corner
of the globe, her speed eating up, so to speak, her weight,
although she weighed less than before, owing to the flatten-
ing of the earth at the pole. It seemed as though she could
have dispensed altogether with her suspensory screws. And
soon the fury of the storm reached such a height that Robur
thought it best to reduce the speed of her helices as much as
possible, so as to avoid disaster. And only enough speed
was given to keep the aeronef under control of the rudder.
Amid these dangers the engineer retained his imperturb-
able coolness, and the crew obeyed him as if their leader's
mind had entered into them. Uncle Prudent and Phil
Evans had not for a moment left the deck; they could re-
main without being disturbed. The air made but slight
resistance. The aeronef was like an aerostat, which drifts
with the fluid mass in which it is plunged.

Is_ the domain of the southern pole a continent or an
archipelago? Or is it a palseocrystic sea, whose ice melts
not even during the long summer? We know not. But
what we do know is that the southern pole is colder than
the northern one — a phenomenon due to the position of
the earth in its orbit during winter in the antarctic regions.
During this day there was nothing to show that the storm
was abating. It was by the seventy-fifth meridian to the
west that the Albatross crossed into the circumpolar region.
By what meridian would she come out — if she ever came
out?

As she descended more to the south the length of the
clay diminished. Before long she would be plunged in that
continuous night which is illuminated only by the rays of
the moon or the pale streamers of the aurora. But the

OVER THE VOLCANO in

moon was then new, and the companions of Robur might
see nothing of the regions whose secret has hitherto defied
human curiosity.

There was not much inconvenience on board from the
cold, for the temperature was not nearly so low as was ex-
pected. It seemed as though the hurricane was a sort of
Gulf Stream, carrying a certain amount of heat along
with it.

Great was the regret that the whole region was in such
profound obscurity. Even if the moon had been in full
glory but few observations could have been made. At this
season of the year an immense curtain of snow, an icy
carapace, covers up the polar surface. There was none of
that ice " blink " to be seen, that whitish tint of which the
reflection is absent from dark horizons. Under such cir-
cumstances how could they distinguish the shape of the
ground, the extent of the seas, the position of the islands?
How could they recognize the hydrographic network of the
country or the orographic configuration, and distinguish the
hills and mountains from the icebergs and floes ?

A little after midnight an aurora illuminated the dark-
ness. With its silver fringes and spangles radiating over
space, it seemed like a huge fan open over half the sky.
Its farthest electric effluences were lost in the Southern
Cross, whose four bright stars were gleaming overhead.
The phenomenon was one of incomparable magnificence,
and the light showed the face of the country as a confused
mass of white.

It need not be said that they had approached so near to the
pole that the compass was constantly affected, and gave no
precise indication of the course pursued. Its inclination was
such that at one time Robur felt certain they were passing
over the magnetic pole discovered by Sir James Ross. And
an hour later, in calculating the angle the needle made with
the vertical, he exclaimed : " The South Pole is beneath us ! "

A white cap appeared, but nothing could be seen of what
it hid under its ice.

A few minutes afterwards the aurora died away, and the
point where all the world's meridians cross is still to be
discovered.

If Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans wished to bury in the
most mysterious solitudes the aeronef and all she bore, the

ii2 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

moment was propitious. If they did not do so it was doubt-
less because the explosive they required was still denied to
them.

The hurricane still raged, and swept along with such
rapidity that had a mountain been met with the aeronef
would have been dashed to pieces like a ship on a lee shore.
Not only had the power gone to steer her horizontally, but
the control of her elevation had also vanished.

And it was not unlikely that mountains did exist in these
antarctic lands. Any instant a shock might happen which
would destroy the Albatross. Such a catastrophe became
more probable as the wind shifted more to the east after
they passed the prime meridian. Two luminous points then
showed themselves ahead of the Albatross. These were the
two volcanos of the Ross Mountains — Erebus and Terror.
Was the Albatross to be shriveled up in their flames like
a gigantic butterfly ?

An hour of intense excitement followed. One of the
volcanoes, Erebus, seemed to be rushing at the aeronef,
which could not move from the bed of the hurricane. The
cloud of flame grew as they neared it. A network of fire
barred their road. A brilliant light shone round over all.
The figures on board stood out in the bright light as if come
from another world. Motionless, without a sound or a ges-
ture, they waited for the terrible moment when the furnace
would wrap them in its fires.

But the storm that bore the Albatross saved them from
such a fearful fate. The flames of Erebus were blown
down by the hurricane as it passed, and the Albatross flew
over unhurt. She swept through a hail of ejected material,
which was fortunately kept at bay by the centrifugal action
of the suspensory screws. And she harmlessly passed over
the crater while it was in full eruption.

An hour afterwards the horizon hid from their view the
two colossal torches which light the confines of the world
during the long polar night.

At two o'clock in the morning Balleny Island was sighted
on the coast of Discovery Land, though it could not be rec-
ognized owing to its being bound to the mainland by a
cement of ice.

And the Albatross emerged from the polar circle on the
hundred and seventy-fifth meridian. The hurricane had

OVER THE VOLCANO 113

carried her over the icebergs and icefloes, against which
she was in danger of being dashed a hundred times or more.
She was not in the hands of the helmsman, but in the hand
of God — and God is a good pilot.

The aeronef sped along to the north, and at the sixtieth
parallel the storm showed signs of dying away. Its vio-
lence sensibly diminished. The Albatross began to come
under control again. And, what was a great comfort, had
again entered the lighted regions of the globe; and the day
reappeared about eight o'clock in the morning.

Robur had been carried by the storm into the Pacific
over the polar region, accomplishing four thousand three
hundred and fifty miles in nineteen hours, or about three
miles a minute, a speed almost double that which the Al-
batross was equal to with her propellers under ordinary
circumstances. But he did not know where he then was
owing to the disturbance of the needle in the neighborhood
of the magnetic pole, and he would have to wait till the sun
shone out under convenient conditions for observation. Un-
fortunately, heavy clouds covered the sky all that day and
the sun did not appear.

This was a disappointment more keenly felt as both
propelling screws had sustained damage during the tempest.
Robur, much disconcerted at this accident, could only ad-
vance at a moderate speed during this day, and when he
passed over the antipodes of Paris was only going about
eighteen miles an hour. It was necessary not to aggravate
the damage to the screws, for if the propellers were rendered
useless the situation of the aeronef above the vast seas of the
Pacific would be a very awkward one. And the engineer
began to consider if he could not effect his repairs on the
spot, so as to make sure of continuing his voyage.

In the morning of the 27th of July, about seven o'clock,
land was sighted to the north. It was soon seen to be an
island. But which island was it of the thousands that dot
the Pacific? However, Robur decided to stop at it with-
out landing. He thought that he could repair damages
during the day and start in the evening.

The wind had died away completely, and this was a fav-
orable circumstance for the maneuver he desired to execute.
At least, if she did not remain stationary the Albatross
would be carried he knew not where.

V. XIV Verne

ii4 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

A cable one hundred and fifty feet long with an anchor
at the end was dropped overboard. When the aeronef
reached the shore of the island the anchor dragged up the
first few rocks and then got firmly fixed between two large
blocks. The cable then stretched to full length under the
influence of the suspensory screws, and the Albatross re-
mained motionless, riding like a ship in a roadstead.

It was the first time she had been fastened to the earth
since she left Philadelphia.

CHAPTER XIX

ANCHORED AT LAST

When the Albatross was high in the air the island could
be seen to be of moderate size. But on what parallel was
it situated? What meridian ran through it? Was it an
island in the Pacific, in Australasia, or in the Indian Ocean ?
When the sun appeared, and Robur had taken his observa-
tions, they would know; but although they could not trust
to the indications of the compass there was reason to think
they were in the Pacific.

At this height— one hundred and fifty feet — the island
which measured about fifteen miles round, was like a three-
pointed star in the sea.

Off the southwest point was an islet and a range of rocks.
On the shore there were no tide-marks, and this tended to
confirm Robur in his opinion as to his position for the ebb
and flow are almost imperceptible in the Pacific.

At the northwest point there was a conical mountain
about two hundred feet high.

No natives were to be seen, but they might be on the
opposite coast. In any case, if they had perceived the
aeronef, terror had made them either hide themselves or
run away.

The Albatross had anchored on the southwest point of
the island. Not far off, down a little creek, a small river
flowed in among the rocks. Beyond were several winding
valleys; trees of different kinds; and birds— partridges and
bustards — in great numbers. If the island was not in-
habited it was habitable. Robur might surely have landed
on it; if he had not done so it was probably because the

ANCHORED AT LAST 115

ground was uneven and did not offer a convenient spot to
beach the aeronef.

While he was waiting for the sun the engineer began the
repairs he reckoned on completing before the day was
over. The suspensory screws were undamaged and had'
worked admirably amid all the violence of the storm, which,
as we have said, had considerably lightened their work. At
this moment half of them were in action, enough to keep
the Albatross fixed to the shore by the taut cable. But the
two propellers had suffered, and more than Robur had
thought. Their blades would have to be adjusted and the
gearing seen to by which they received their rotatory move-
ment.

It was the screw at the bow which was first attacked
under Robur's superintendence. It was the best to com-
mence with, in case the Albatross had to leave before the
work was finished. With only this propeller he could easily
keep a proper course.

Meanwhile Uncle Prudent and his colleague, after walk-
ing about the deck, had sat down aft. Frycollin was
strangely reassured. What a difference ! To be suspended
only one hundred and fifty feet from the ground !

The work was only interrupted for a moment while the
elevation of the sun above the horizon allowed Robur to
take an horary angle, so that at the time of its culmination
he could calculate his position.

The result of the observation, taken with the greatest
exactitude, was as follows :

Longitude, 176 deg. 10 min. west.
Latitude, 44 deg. 25 min. south.

This point on the map answered to the position of the
Chatham Islands, and particularly of Pitt Island, one of the
group.

" That is nearer than I supposed," said Robur to Tom
Turner.

" How far off are we ? "

" Forty-six degrees south of X Island, or two thousand
eight hundred miles."

" All the more reason to get our propellers into order,"
said the mate. " We may have the wind against us this
passage, and with the little stores we have left we ought
to get to X as soon as possible."

n6 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

" Yes, Tom, and I hope to get under way to-night, even
if I go with one screw, and put the other to-rights on the
voyage."

" Mr. Robur," said Tom, " what is to be done with those
two gentlemen and their servant? "

" Do you think they would complain if they became
colonists of X Island? "

But where was this X? It was an island lost in the
immensity of the Pacific Ocean between, the Equator and
the Tropic of Cancer — an island most appropriately named
by Robur in this algebraic fashion. It was in the north
of the South Pacific, a long way out of the route of inter-
oceanic communication. There it was that Robur had
founded his little colony, and there the Albatross rested
when tired with her flight. There she was provisioned
for all her voyages. In X Island, Robur, a man of immense
wealth, had established a ship-yard, in which he built
his areonef. There he could repair it, and even rebuild it.
In his warehouses were materials and provisions of
all sorts stored for the fifty inhabitants who lived on the
island.

When Robur had doubled Cape Horn a few days before
his intention had been to regain X Island by crossing the
Pacific obliquely. But the cyclone had seized the Albatross,
and the hurricane had carried her away to the south. In
fact, he had been brought back to much the same latitude as
before, and if his propellers had not been damaged the delay
would have been of no importance.

His object was therefore to get back to X Island; but
as the mate had said, the voyage would be a long one, and
the winds would probably be against them. The mechanical
power of the Albatross was, however, quite equal to taking
her to her destination, and under ordinary circumstances she
would be there in three or four days.

Hence Robur's resolve to anchor on the Chatham Islands.
There was there every opportunity for repairing at least the
fore-screw. He had no fear that if the wind were to rise he
would be driven to the south instead of to the north. When
night came the repairs would be finished, and he would have
to maneuver so as to weigh anchor. If it were too firmly
fixed in the rocks he could cut the cable and resume his flight
towards the equator.

ANCHORED AT LAST 117

The crew of the Albatross, knowing there was no time to
lose, set to work vigorously.

While they were busy in the bow of the aeronef, Uncle
Prudent and Phil Evans held a little conversation together
which had exceptionally important consequences.

" Phil Evans," said Uncle Prudent, " you have resolved,
as I have, to sacrifice your life? "

" Yes, like you."

" It is evident that we can expect nothing from Robur."

" Nothing."

" Well, Phil Evans, I have made up my mind. If the
Albatross leaves this place to-night, the night will not pass
without our having accomplished our task. We will smash
the wings of this bird of Robur's ! This night I will blow
it into the air ! "

" The sooner the better," said Phil Evans.

It will be seen that the two colleagues were agreed on
all points, even in accepting with indifference the frightful
death in store for them. " Have you all you want? " asked
Evans.

"Yes. Last night, while Robur and his people had
enough to do to look after the safety of the ship, I slipped
into the magazine and got hold of a dynamite cartridge."

" Let us set to work, Uncle Prudent."

" No. Wait till to-night. When the night comes we will
go into our cabin, and you shall see something that will
surprise you."

At six o'clock the colleagues dined together as usual.
Two hours afterwards they retired to their cabin like men
who wished to make up for a sleepless night.

Neither Robur nor any of his companions had a suspicion
of the catastrophe that threatened the Albatross.

This was Uncle Prudent's plan. As he had said, he had
stolen into the magazine, and there had possessed himself
of some powder and cartridge like those used by Robur in
Dahomey. Returning to his cabin, he had carefully con-
cealed the cartridge with which he had resolved to blow up
the Albatross in mid-air.

Phil Evans, screened by his companion, was now exam-
ining the infernal machine, which was a metallic canister
containing about two pounds of dynamite, enough to shatter
the aeronef to atoms. If the explosion did not destroy

n8 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

her at once, it would do so in her fall. Nothing was easier
than to place this cartridge in a corner of the cabin, so that
it would blow in the deck and tear away the framework of
the hull.

But to obtain the explosion it was necessary to adjust
the fulminating cap with which the cartridge was fitted.
This was the most delicate part of the operation, for the
explosion would have to be carefuly timed, so as not to
occur too soon or too late.

Uncle Prudent had carefully thought over the matter.
His conclusions were as follows. As soon as the fore
propeller was repaired the aeronef would resume her course
to the north, and that done Robur and his crew would prob-
ably come aft to put the other screw into order. The pres-
ence of these people about the cabin might interfere with
his plans, and so he had resolved to make a slow match do
duty as a time-fuse.

" When I got the cartridge," said he to Phil Evans, " I
took some gunpowder as well. With the powder I will
make a fuse that will take some time to burn, and which
will lead into the fulminate. My idea is to light it about
midnight, so that the explosion will take place about three
or four o'clock in the morning."

" Well planned ! " said Phil Evans.

The colleagues, as we see, had arrived at such a stage
as to look with the greatest nonchalance on the awful
destruction in which they were about to perish. Their
hatred against Robur and his people had so increased
that they would sacrifice their own lives to destroy the Al-
batross and all she bore. The act was that of madmen, it
was horrible ; but at such a pitch had they arrived after five
weeks of anger that could not vent itself, of rage that could
not be gratified.

" And Frycollin? " asked Phil Evans, " have we the right
to dispose of his life? "

" We shall sacrifice ours as well ! " said Uncle Prudent.
It is doubtful if Frycollin would have thought the reason
sufficient.

Immediately Uncle Prudent set to work, while Evans kept
watch in the neighborhood of the cabin. The crew were
all at work forward. There was no fear of being surprised.
Uncle Prudent began by rubbing a small quantity of the

ANCHORED AT LAST 119

powder very fine; and then, having slightly moistened it,
he wrapped it up in a piece of rag in the shape of a match.
When it was lighted he calculated it would burn about an
inch in five minutes, or a yard in three hours. The match
was tried and found to answer, and was then wound round
with string and attached to the cap of the cartridge. Uncle
Prudent had all finished about ten o'clock in the evening
without having excited the least suspicion.

During the day the work on the fore screw had been
actively carried on, but it had had to be taken on board to
adjust the twisted blades. Of the piles and accumulators
and the machinery that drove the ship nothing was damaged.

When night fell Robur and his men knocked off work.
The fore propeller had not been got into place, and to finish
it would take another three hours. After some conversa-
tion with Tom Turner it was decided to give the crew a
rest, and postpone what required to be done to the next
morning.

The final adjustment was a matter of extreme nicety, and
the electric lamps did not give so suitable a light for such
work as the daylight.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans were not aware of this.
They had understood that the screw would be in place
during the night, and that the Albatross would be on her
Way to the north.

The night was dark and moonless. Heavy clouds made
the darkness deeper. A light breeze began to rise. A
few puffs came from the southwest, but they had no effect
on the Albatross. She remained motionless at her anchor,
and the cable stretched vertically downwards to the ground.

Uncle Prudent and his colleague, imagining they were
under way again, sat shut up in their cabin, exchanging
but a few words, and listening to the f-r-r-r-r of the sus-
pensory screws, which drowned every other sound on
board. They were waiting till the time of action arrived.

A little before midnight Uncle Prudent said, "It is
time!"

Under the berths in the cabin was a sliding box, forming
a small locker, and in this locker Uncle Prudent put the
dynamite and the slow-match. In this way the match
would burn without betraying itself by its smoke or splutter-
ing. Uncle Prudent lighted the end and pushed back the

120 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

box under the berth with, " Now let us go aft, and wait."

They then went out, and were astonished not to find
the steersman at his post.

Phil Evans leant out over the rail.

"The Albatross is where she was," said he in a low
voice. "The work is not finished. They have not
started!"

Uncle Prudent made a gesture of disappointment. " We
shall have to put out the match," said he.

" No," said Phil Evans, " we must escape."

"Escape?"

"Yes! down the cable! fifty yards is nothing!"

"Nothing, of course, Phil Evans, and we should be fools
not to take the chance now it has come."

But first they went back to the cabin and took away all
they could carry, with a view to a more or less prolonged
stay on the Chatham Islands. Then they shut the door
and noiselessly crept forward, intending to wake Frycollin
and take him with them.

The darkness was intense. The clouds were racing up
from the southwest, and the aeronef was tugging at her
anchor, and thus throwing the cable more and more out of
the vertical. There would be no difficulty in slipping down
it.

The colleagues made their way along the deck, stopping
in the shadow of the deckhouses to listen if there was any
sound. The silence was unbroken. No light shone from
the portholes. The aeronef was not only silent; she was
asleep.

Uncle Prudent was close to Frycollin's cabin when Phil
Evans stopped him. " The look-out ! " he said.

A man was crouching near the deck-house. He was
only half asleep. All flight would be impossible if he were
to give the alarm. Close by were a few ropes, and pieces
of rag and waste used in the work at the screw.

An instant afterwards the man was gagged and blind-
folded and lashed to the rail unable to utter a sound or
move an inch. This was done almost without a whisper.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans listened. All was silent
within the cabins. Every one on board was asleep. They
reached Frycollin's cabin. Tapage was snoring away in
a style worthy of his name, and that promised well.

To his great surprise, Uncle Prudent had not even to

ANCHORED AT LAST 121

push Frycollin's door. It was open. He stepped into the
doorway and looked round. " Nobody here ! " he said.

"Nobody! Where can he be?" asked Phil Evans.

They went into the bow, thinking Frycollin might per-
haps be asleep in the corner. Still they found nobody.

"Has the fellow got the start of us?" asked Uncle
Prudent.

" Whether he has or not," said Phil Evans, " we can't
wait any longer. Down you go."

Without hesitation the fugitives one after the other
clambered over the side and, seizing the cable with hands
and feet, slipped down it safe and sound to the ground.

Think of their joy at again treading the earth they had
lost for so long — at walking on solid ground and being no
longer the playthings of the atmosphere!

They were starting up the creek to the interior of the
island when suddenly a form rose in front of them. It
was Frycollin. The negro had had the same idea as his
master and the audacity to start without telling him. But
there was no time for recriminations, and Uncle Prudent
was in search of a refuge in some distant part of the island
when Phil Evans stopped him.

" Uncle Prudent," said he. " Here we are safe from
Robur. He is doomed like his companions to a terrible
death. He deserves it, we know. But if he would swear
on his honor not to take us prisoners again "

"The honor of such a man "

Uncle Prudent did not finish his sentence.

There was a noise on the Albatross. Evidently the
alarm had been given. The escape was discovered.

" Help ! Help ! " shouted somebody. It was the look-
out man, who had got rid of his gag. Hurried footsteps
were heard on deck. Almost immediately the electric
lamps shot beams over a large circle.

" There they are ! There they are ! " shouted Tom
Turner. The fugitives were seen.

At the same instant an order was given by Robur, and,
the suspensory screws being slowed, the cable was hauled
in on board, and the Albatross sank towards the ground.

At this moment the voice of Phil Evans was heard shout-
ing, " Engineer Robur, will you give us your word of
honor to leave us free on this island?"

" Never ! " said Robur. And the reply was followed by

122 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

the^ report of a gun, and the bullet grazed Phil's shoulder.

"Ah! The brutes!" said Uncle Prudent. Knife in
hand, he rushed towards the rocks where the anchor had
fixed itself. The aeronef was not more than fifty feet
from the ground.

In a few seconds the cable was cut, and the breeze, which
had increased considerably, striking the Albatross on the
quarter, carried her out over the sea.

CHAPTER XX

THE WRECK OF THE ALBATROSS

# It was then twenty minutes after midnight. Five or
six shots had been fired from the aeronef. Uncle Prudent
and Frycollin, supporting Phil Evans, had taken shelter
among the rocks. They had not been hit. For the mo-
ment there was nothing to fear.

As the Albatross drifted off from Pitt Island she rose
obliquely to nearly three thousand feet. It was necessary
to increase the ascensional power to prevent her falling into
the sea.

When the look-out man had got clear of his gag and
shouted, Robur and Tom Turner had rushed up to him
and torn off his bandage. The mate had then run back to
the stern cabin. It was empty! Tapage had searched
Frycollin's cabin, and that also was empty.

When he saw that the prisoners had escaped, Robur was
seized with a paroxysm of anger. The escape meant the
revelation of his secret to the world. He had not been
much concerned at the document thrown overboard while
they were crossing Europe, for there were so many chances
that it would be lost in its fall; but now !

As he grew calm, " They have escaped," said he. " Be
it so ! but they cannot get away from Pitt island, and in a
day or so I will go back! I will recapture them! And
then "

In fact, the safety of the three fugitives was by no means
assured. The Albatross would be repaired, and return
well in hand. Before the day was out they might again
be in the power of the engineer.

Before the day was out! But in two hours the Al-

THE WRECK OF THE ALBATROSS 123

batross would be annihilated ! The dynamite cartridge was
like a torpedo fastened to her hull, and would accomplish
her destruction in mid-air. The breeze freshened, and the
aeronef was carried to the northeast. Although her speed
was but moderate, she would be out of sight of the Chatham
Islands before sunrise. To return against the wind she must
have her propellers going, particularly the one in the bow.

" Tom," said the engineer, " turn the lights full on."

" Yes, sir."

" And all hands to work."

" Yes, sir."

There was no longer any idea of putting off the work
till to-morrow. There was now no thought of fatigue.
Not one of the men of the Albatross failed to share in the
feelings of his chief. Not one but was ready to do any-
thing to recapture the fugitives!

As soon as the screw was in place they would return to
the island and drop another anchor, and give chase to the
fugitives. Then only would they begin repairing the stern-
screw ; and then the aeronef could resume her voyage across
the Pacific to X Island.

It was important, above all things, that the Albatross
should not be carried too far to the northeast, but unfor-
tunately the breeze grew stronger, and she could not head
against it, or even remain stationary. Deprived of her pro-
pellers she was an unguidable balloon. The fugitives on.
the shore knew that she would have disappeared before the
explosion blew her to pieces.

Robur felt much disappointment at seeing his plans so
interfered with. Would it not take him much longer than
he thought to get back to his old anchorage?

While the work at the screw was actively pushed on, he
resolved to descend to the surface of the sea, in the hope
that the wind would there be lighter. Perhaps the Alba-
tross would be able to remain in the neighborhood until
she was again fit to work to windward.

The maneuver was instantly executed. If a passing
ship had sighted the aerial machine as she sunk through
the air, with her electric lights in full blaze, with what
terror would she have been seized!

When the Albatross was a few hundred feet from the
waves she stopped. Unfortunately Robur found that the

124 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

breeze was stronger here than above, and the aeronef
drifted off more rapidly. He risked being blown a long
way off to the northeast, and that would delay his return
to Pitt Island.

In short, after several experiments, he found it better to
keep his ship well up in the air, and the Albatross went
aloft to about ten thousand feet. There, if she did not
remain stationary, the drifting was very slight. The en-
gineer could thus hope that by sunrise at such an altitude
he would still be in sight of the island.

Robur did not trouble himself about the reception the
fugitives might have received from the natives — if there
were any natives. That they might help them mattered
little to him. With the powers of offence possessed
by the Albatross they would be promptly terrified and dis-
persed. The capture of the prisoners was certain, and
once he had them again, " They will not escape from X
Island!"

About one o'clock in the morning the fore-screw was
finished, and all that had to be done was to get it back to
its place. This would take about an hour. That done,
the Albatross would be headed southwest and the stern-
screw could be taken in hand.

And how about the match that was burning in the de-
serted cabin? — the match of which more than a third was
now consumed? And the spark that was creeping along
to the dynamite?

Assuredly if the men of the aeronef had not been so busy
one of them would have heard the feeble sputtering that
was going on in the deck-house. Perhaps he would have
smelt the burning powder! He would doubtless have be-
come uneasy! And told Tom Turner! And then they
would have looked about, and found the box and the in-
fernal machine; and then there would have been time to
save this wonderful Albatross and all she bore!

But the men were at work in the bow, twenty yards away
from the cabin. Nothing brought them to that part of
the deck ; nothing called off their attention from their work.

Robur was there working with his hands, excellent
mechanic as he was. He hurried on the work, but noth-
ing was neglected, everything was carefully done. Was it
not necessary that he should again become absolute master
of his invention?. If he did not recapture the fugitives

THE WRECK OF THE ALBATROSS 125

they would get away home. They would begin inquiring
into matters. They might even discover X Island, and
there would be an end to this life, which the men of the
Albatross had created for themselves, a life that seemed
superhuman and sublime.

Tom Turner came up to the engineer. It was a quarter
past one. " It seems to me, sir, that the breeze is falling,
and going round to the west."

"What does the barometer say?" asked Robur, after
looking up at the sky.

" It is almost stationary, and the clouds seem gathering
below us."

" So they are, and it may be raining down at the sea ;
but if we keep above the rain it makes no difference to us.
It will not interfere with the work."

" If it is raining it is not a heavy rain," said Tom.
" The clouds do not look like it, and probably the wind has
dropped altogether."

" Perhaps so, but I think we had better not go down yet.
Let us get into going order as soon as we can, and then we
can do as we like."

At a few minutes after two the first part of the work
was finished. The fore-screw was in its place, and the
power was turned on. The speed was gradually increased,
and the Albatross, heading to the southwest, returned at
moderate speed towards the Chatham Islands.

" Tom," said Robur, " it is about two hours and a half
since we got adrift. The wind has not changed all the
time. I think we ought to be over the island in an hour."

" Yes, sir. We are going about forty feet a second.
We ought to be there about half -past three."

" All the better. It would suit us best to get back while
it is dark, and even beach the Albatross if we can. Those
fellows will fancy we are a long way off to the northward,
and never think of keeping a look-out. If we have to stop
a day or two on the island "

"We'll stop, and if we have to fight an army of na-
tives "

" We'll fight," said Robur. " We'll fight then for our
Albatross."

The engineer went forward to the men, who were wait-
ing for orders. " My lads," he said to them, " we cannot
knock off yet. We must work till day comes."

126 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

They were all ready to do so. The stern-screw had now
to be treated as the other had been. The damage was the
same, a twisting from the violence of the hurricane during
the passage across the southern pole.

But to get the screw on board it seemed best to stop the
progress of the aeronef for a few minutes, and even to
drive her backwards. The engines were reversed. The
aeronef began to fall astern, when Tom Turner was sur-
prised by a peculiar odor.

This was from the gas given off by the match, which had
accumulated in the box, and was now escaping from the
cabin. " Hallo ! " said the mate, with a sniff.
" What is the matter? " asked Robur.
" Don't you smell something ? Isn't it burning
powder? "

" So it is, Tom."

"And it comes from that cabin."

" Yes, the very cabin "

" Have those scoundrels set it on fire ? "
" Suppose it is something else ! " exclaimed Robur.
" Force the door, Tom; drive in the door! "

But the mate had not made one step towards it when a
fearful explosion shook the Albatross. The cabins flew
into splinters. The lamps went out. The electric current
suddenly failed. The darkness was complete. Most of
the suspensory screws were twisted or broken, but a few in
the bow still revolved.

At the same instant the hull of the aeronef opened just
behind the first deck-house, where the engines for the fore-
screw were placed; and the after-part of the deck col-
lapsed in space.

Immediately the last suspensory screw stopped spinning,
and the Albatross dropped into the abyss.

It was a fall of ten thousand feet for the eight men who
were clinging to the wreck; and the fall was even faster
than it might have been, for the fore propeller was vertical
in the air and still working!

It was then that Robur, with extraordinary coolness,
climbed up to the broken deck-house, and seizing the lever
reversed the rotation, so that the propeller became a sus-
pender.

The fall continued, but it was checked, and the wreck

THE WRECK OF THE ALBATROSS 127

did not fall with the accelerating swiftness of bodies in-
fluenced solely by gravitation; and if it was death to the
survivors of the Albatross from their being hurled into
the sea, it was not death by asphyxia amid air which the
rapidity of descent rendered unbreathable.

Eighty seconds after the explosion, all that remained of
the Albatross plunged into the waves !

CHAPTER XXI

THE INSTITUTE AGAIN

Some weeks before, on the 13th of June, on the morning
after the sitting during which the Weldon Institute had
been given over to such stormy discussions, the excitement
of all classes of the Philadelphian population, blaclc or
white, had been much easier to imagine than to describe.

^ From a very early hour conversation was entirely occu-
pied with the unexpected and scandalous incident of the
night before. A stranger calling himself an engineer, and
answering to the name of Robur, a person of unknown
origin, of anonymous nationality, had unexpectedly pre-
sented himself in the club-room, insulted the balloonists,
made fun of the aeronauts, boasted of the marvels of ma-
chines heavier than air, and raised a frightful tumult by
the remarks with which he greeted the menaces of his ad-
versaries. After leaving the desk, amid a volley of re-
volver shots, he had disappeared, and, in spite of every en-
deavor, no trace could be found of him.

Assuredly here was enough to exercise every tongue and
excite every imagination. But by how much was this ex-
citement increased when in the evening of the 13th of
June it was found that neither the president nor secretary
of the Weldon Institute had returned to their homes!
Was it by chance only that they were absent? No, or at
least there was nothing to lead people to think so. It had
even been agreed that in the morning they would be back
at the club, one as president, the other as secretary, to take
their places during a discussion on the events of the pre-
ceding evening.

And not only was there the complete disappearance of
these two considerable personages in the state of Penn-

128 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

sylvania, but there was no news of the valet Frycollin. He
was as undiscoverable as his master. Never had a negro
since Toussaint L'Ouverture, Soulouque, or Dessaline had
so much talked about him.

The next day there was no news. Neither the col-
leagues nor Frycollin had been found. The anxiety be-
came serious. Agitation commenced. A numerous crowd
besieged the post and telegraph offices in case any news
should be received. There was no news.

And they had been seen coming out of the Weldon In-
stitute loudly talking together, and with Frycollin in at-
tendance, go down Walnut Street towards Fairmont Park!
Jem Chip, the vegetarian, had even shaken hands with
the president and left him with "To-morrow ! "

And William T. Forbes, the manufacturer of sugar
from rags, had received a cordial shake from Phil Evans
who had said to him twice, " Au revoir ! au revoir ! "

Miss Doll and Miss Mat Forbes, so attached to Uncle
Prudent by the bonds of purest friendship, could not get
over the disappearance, and in order to obtain news of the
absent, talked even more than they were accustomed to.

Three, four, five, six days passed. Then a week, then
two weeks, and there was nothing to give a clue to the
missing three. The most minute search had been made in
every quarter. Nothing! In the streets going down to
the harbor. Nothing! In the park, even under the trees
and brushwood. Nothing! Always nothing! although
here it was noticed that the grass looked to be pressed down
in a way that seemed suspicious and certainly was inex-
plicable; and at the edge of the clearing there were traces
of a recent struggle. Perhaps a band of scoundrels had
attacked the colleagues here in the deserted park in the
middle of the night!

It was possible. The police proceeded with their in-
quiries in all due form and with all lawful slowness.
They dragged the Schuylkill river, and cut into the thick
bushes that fringe its banks; and if this was useless it was
not quite a waste, for the Schuylkill is in great want of a
good weeding, and it got it on this occasion! Practical
people are the authorities of Philadelphia!

Then the newspapers were tried. Advertisements and
notices and articles were sent to all the journals in the

THE INSTITUTE AGAIN 129

Union without distinction of color. The Daily Negro,
the special organ of the black race, published a portrait of
Frycollin after his latest photograph. Rewards were
offered to whoever would give news of the three absentees,
and even to those who would find some clue to put the
police on the track.

"Five thousand dollars! five thousand dollars to any

citizen who would "

Nothing was done. The five thousand dollars remained
with the treasurer of the Weldon Institute.

Undiscoverable ! undiscoverable ! un discoverable ! Uncle
Prudent and Phil Evans, of Philadelphia!

It need hardly be said that the club was put to serious
inconvenience by this disappearance of its president and
secretary. And at first the assembly voted urgency to a
measure which suspended the work on the Go-ahead. How,
in the absence of the principal promoters of the affair, of
those who had devoted to the enterprise a certain part of
their fortune in time and money — how could they finish the
work when these were not present? It were better, then,
to wait.

And just then came the first news of the strange phe-
nomenon which had exercised people's minds some weeks
before.

^ The mysterious object had been again seen at different
times in the higher regions of the atmosphere. But no-
body dreamt of establishing a connection between this
singular reappearance and the no less singular disappear-
ance of the members of the Weldon Institute. In fact, it
would have required a very strong dose of imagination to
connect one of these facts with the other.

Whatever it might be, asteroid or aerolite or aerial mons-
ter, it had reappeared in such a way that its dimensions and
shape could be much better appreciated, first in Canada,
over the country between Ottawa and Quebec, on the very
morning after the disappearance of the colleagues, and
later over the plains of the Far West, where it had tried
its speed against an express train on the Union Pacific.

At the end of this day the doubts of the learned world
were at an end. The body was not a product of nature, it
was a flying machine, the practical application of the theory
of " heavier than air." And if the inventor of the aeronef

y. XTV Verne

130 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

had wished to keep himself unknown he could evidently
have done better than to try it over the Far West. As
to the mechanical force he required, or the engines by which
it was communicated, nothing was known, but there could
be no doubt the aeronef was gifted with an extraordinary
faculty of locomotion. In fact, a few days afterwards it
was reported from the Celestial Empire, then from the
southern part of India, then from the Russian steppes.

Who was then this bold mechanician that possessed such
powers of locomotion, for whom States had no frontiers
and oceans no limits, who disposed of the terrestrial atmos-
phere as if it were his domain? Could it be this Robur
whose theories had been so brutally thrown in the face of
the Weldon Institute the day he led the attack against the
Utopia of guidable balloons? Perhaps such a notion oc-
curred to some of the wide-awake people, but none dreamt
that the said Robur had anything to do with the disappear-
ance of the president and secretary of the Institute.

Things remained in this state of mystery when a tele-
gram arrived from France through the New York cable at
11.37 A- M- on July I3- And what was this telegram? It
was the text of the document found at Paris in a snuff-
box revealing what had happened to the two personages for
whom the Union was in mourning.

So, then, the perpetrator of this kidnapping was Robur
the engineer, come expressly to Philadelphia to destroy
in its egg the theory of the balloonists. He it was who
commanded the Albatross! He it was who carried off
by way of reprisal Uncle Prudent, Phil Evans, and Fry-
collin; and they might be considered lost for ever. At
least until some means were found of constructing an en-
gine capable of contending with this powerful machine
their terrestrial friends would never bring them back to
earth.

What excitement! What stupor! The telegram from
Paris had been addressed to the members of the Weldon
Institute. The members of the club were immediately in-
formed of it. Ten minutes later all Philadelphia received
the news through its telephones, and in less than an hour
all America heard of it through the innumerable electric
wires of the new continent.

No one would believe it! " It is an unseasonable joke,"

THE INSTITUTE AGAIN 131

said some. "It is all smoke," said others. How could
such a thing be done in Philadelphia, and so secretly, too ?
How could the Albatross have been beached in Fairmont
Park without its appearance having been signaled all over
Pennsylvania ?

Very good. These were the arguments. The incred-
ulous had the right of doubting. But the right did not
last long. Seven days after the receipt of the telegram
the French mail-boat Normandie came into the Hudson,
bringing the famous snuff-box. The railway took it in
all haste from New York to Philadelphia.

It was_ indeed the snuff-box of the President of the Wel-
don Institute. Jem Chip would have done better on that
day to take some more substantial nourishment, for he
fell into a swoon when he recognized it. How many a
time had he taken from it the pinch of friendship! And
Miss Doll and Miss Mat also recognized it, and so did
William T. Forbes, Truck Milnor, Bat T. Fynn, and many
other members. And not only was it the president's snuff-
box, it was the president's writing.

Then did the people lament and stretch out their hands in
despair to the skies. Uncle Prudent and his colleague
carried away in a flying machine, and no one able to de-
liver them!

The Niagara Falls Company, in which Uncle Prudent
was the largest shareholder, thought of suspending its
business and turning off its cataracts. The Wheelton
Watch Company thought of winding up its machinery now
it had lost its manager.

Nothing more was heard of the aeronef. July passed,
and there was no news. August ran its course, and the
uncertainty on the subject of Robur's prisoners was as
great as ever. Had he, like Icarus, fallen a victim to his
own temerity?

The first twenty-seven days of September went by with-
out result, but on the 28th a rumor spread through Phila-
delphia that Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans had during the
afternoon quietly walked into the president's house. And,
what was more extraordinary, the rumor was true, al-
though very few believed it.

They had, however, to give in to the evidence. There
could be no doubt these were the two men, and not their

132 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

shadows. And Frycollin also had come back! The mem-
bers of the club, then their friends, then the crowd,
swarmed into the president's house, and shook hands with
the president and secretary, and cheered them again and
again. Jem Chip was there, having left his luncheon — a
joint of boiled lettuces — and William T. Forbes and his
daughters, and all the members of the club. It is a mystery
how Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans emerged alive from
the thousands who welcomed them.

On that evening was the weekly meeting of the Institute.
It was expected that the colleagues would take their places
at the desk. As they had said nothing of their adven-
tures, it was thought they would then speak, and relate the
impressions of their voyage. But for some reason or
other both were silent. And so also was Frycollin, whom
his congeners in their delirium had failed to dismember.

But though the colleagues did not tell what had hap-
pened to them, that is no reason why we should not. We
know what occurred on the night of the 27th and 28th
of July; the daring escape to the earth, the scramble among
the rocks, the bullet fired at Phil Evans, the cut cable, and
the Albatross deprived of her propellers, drifting off to
the northeast at a great altitude. Her electric lamps ren-
dered her visible for some time. And then she disappeared.

The fugitives had little to fear. How could Robur get
back to the island for three or four hours if his screws were
out of gear ? By that time the Albatross would have been
destroyed by the explosion, and be no more than a wreck
floating on the sea; those whom she bore would be
mangled corpses, which the ocean would not even give up
again. The act of vengeance would be accomplished.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans looked upon it as an act
of legitimate self-defence, and felt no remorse whatever.
Evans was but slightly wounded by the rifle bullet, and
the three made their way up from the shore in the hope of
meeting some of the natives. The hope was realized.
About fifty natives were living by fishing off the western
coast. They had seen the aeronef descend on the island,
and they welcomed the fugitives as if they were supernat-
ural beings. They worshiped them, we ought rather to
say. They accommodated them in the most comfortable
of their huts.

THE INSTITUTE AGAIN 133

As they had expected, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans
saw nothing more of the areonef. They concluded that
the catastrophe "had taken place in some high region of the
atmosphere, and that they would hear no more of Robur
and his prodigious machine.

Meanwhile they had to wait for an opportunity of re-
turning to America. The Chatham Islands are not much
visited by navigators, and all August passed without sign
of a ship. The fugitives began to ask themselves if they
had not exchanged one prison for another.

At last, a ship came to water at the Chatham Islands.
It will not have been forgotten that when Uncle Prudent
was seized he had on him several thousand paper dollars,
much more than would take him back to America. After
thanking their adorers, who were not sparing of their most
respectful demonstrations, Uncle Prudent, Phil Evans,
and Frycollin embarked for Auckland. They said nothing
of their adventures, and in two weeks landed in New
Zealand.

At Auckland, a mail-boat took them on board as pas-
sengers, and after a splendid passage the survivors of the
Albatross stepped ashore at San Francisco. They said
nothing as to who they were or whence they had come, but
as they had paid full price for their berths no American
captain would trouble them further. At San Francisco
they took the first train out on the Pacific Railway,
and on the 27th of September, they arrived at Philadel-
phia. That is the compendious history of what had oc-
curred since the escape of the fugitives. And that is why
this very evening the president and secretary of the Weldon
Institute took their seats amid a most extraordinary at-
tendance.

Never before had either of them been so calm. To
look at them it did not seem as though anything abnormal
had happened since the memorable sitting of the 12th of
June. Three months and a half had gone, and seemed to
be counted as nothing. After the first round of cheers,
which both received without showing the slightest emotion,
Uncle Prudent took off his hat and spoke.

" Worthy citizens," said he, " the meeting is now open."

Tremendous applause. And properly so, for if it was
not extraordinary that the meeting was open, it was ex-

134 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

traordinary that it should be opened by Uncle Prudent and
Phil Evans.

The president allowed the enthusiasm to subside in
shouts and clappings; then he continued : " At our last meet-
ing, gentlemen, the discussion was somewhat animated —
(hear, hear) — between the partisans of the screw before
and those of the screw behind for our balloon the Go-ahead.
(Marks of surprise.) We have found a way to bring the
beforists and the behindists in agreement. That way is as
follows: we are going to use two screws, one at each end
of the car!" (Silence and complete stupefaction.)

That was all.

Yes, all! Of the kidnapping of the president and sec-
retary of the Weldon Institute not a word! Not a word
of the Albatross nor of Robur ! Not a word of the voyage !
Not a word of the way in which the prisoners had escaped!
Not a word of what had become of the aeronef, if it still
flew through space, or if they were to be prepared for new
reprisals on the members of the club!

Of course the balloonists were longing to ask Uncle
Prudent and the secretary about all these things, but they
looked so close and so serious that they thought it best to
respect their attitude. When they thought fit to speak they
would do so, and it would be an honor to hear. After all,
there might be in all this some secret which would not yet
be divulged.

_ And then Uncle Prudent, resuming his speech amid a
silence up to then unknown in the meetings of the Weldon
Institute, said, " Gentlemen, it now only remains for us to
finish the aerostat Goahead. It is left to her to effect the
conquest of the air! The meeting is at an end! "

CHAPTER XXII

THE GOAHEAD IS LAUNCHED

On the following 19th of April, seven months after the
unexpected return of Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, Phila-
delphia was in a state of unwonted excitement. There were
neither elections nor meetings this time. The aerostat Go-
ahead, built by the Weldon Institute, was to take possession
of her natural element.

THE GOAHEAD IS LAUNCHED 135

The celebrated Harry W. Tinder, whose name we men-
tioned at the beginning of this story, had been engaged as
aeronaut. He had no assistant, and the only passengers
were to be the president and secretary of the Weldon In-
stitute. Did they not merit such an honor? Did it not
come to them appropriately to rise in person to protest
against any apparatus that was heavier than air?

During the seven months, however, they had said noth-
ing of their adventures; and even Frycollin had not uttered
a whisper of Robur and his wonderful clipper. Probably
Uncle Prudent and his friend desired that no question
should arise as to the merits of the aeronef, or any other
flying machine. Although the Goahead might not claim the
first place among aerial locomotives, they would have noth-
ing to say about the inventions of other aviators. They
believed, and would always believe, that the true atmos-
pheric vehicle was the aerostat, and that to it alone belonged
the future.

Besides, he on whom they had been so terribly — and in
their idea so justly — avenged, existed no longer. None of
those who accompanied him had survived. The secret of
the Albatross was buried in the depths of the Pacific!

That Robur had a retreat, an island in the middle of
that vast ocean, where he could put into port, was only a
hypothesis; and the colleagues reserved to themselves the
right of making inquiries on the subject — later on.

The grand experiment which the Weldon Institute had
•been preparing for so long was at last to take place. The
Goahead was the most perfect type of what had up to then
been invented in aerostatic art — she was what an Inflexible
or a Formidable is in ships of war.

She possessed all the qualities of a good aerostat. Her
dimensions allowed of her rising to the greatest height a
balloon could attain; her impermeability enabled her to re-
main for an indefinite time in the atmosphere; her solidity
would defy any dilatation of gas or violence of wind or
rain; her capacity gave her sufficient ascensional force to
lift with all their accessories an electric engine that would
communicate to her propellers a -power superior to anything
yet obtained. The Goahead was of elongated form, so as
to facilitate her horizontal displacement. Her car was a
platform somewhat like that of the balloon used by Krebs

136 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

and Renard; and it carried all the necessary outfit, instru-
ments, cables, grapnels, guide-ropes, etc., and the piles and
accumulators for the mechanical power. The car had a
screw in front, and a screw and rudder behind. But prob-
ably the work done by the machines would be very much
less than that done by the machines of the Albatross.

The Goahead had been taken to the clearing in Fair-
mont Park, to the very spot where the aeronef had landed
for a few hours.

Her ascensional power was due to the very lightest of
gaseous bodies. Ordinary lighting gas possesses an ele-
vating force of about 700 grammes for every cubic meter.
But hydrogen possesses an ascensional force estimated at
1,100 grammes per cubic meter. Pure hydrogen prepared
according to the method of the celebrated Henry Gifford
filled the enormous balloon. And as the capacity of the
Goahead was 40,000 cubic meters, the ascensional power of
the gas she contained was 40,000 multiplied by 1,100, or
44,000 kilogrammes.

On this 29th of April everything was ready. Since
eleven o'clock the enormous aerostat had been floating a
few feet from the ground ready to rise in mid-air. It
was splendid weather and seemed to have been made
specially for the experiment, although if the breeze had
been stronger the results might have been more conclusive.
There had never been any doubt that a balloon could be
guided in a calm atmosphere; but to guide it when the
atmosphere is in motion is quite another thing; and it is
under such circumstances that the experiment should be
tried.

But there was no wind to-day, nor any sign of any.
Strange to say, North America on that day omitted to
send on to Europe one of those first-class storms which it
seems to have in such inexhaustible numbers. A bet-
ter day could not have been chosen for an aeronautic ex-
periment.

The crowd was immense in Fairmont Park; trains had
poured into the Pennsylvania capital sightseers from the
neighboring states; industrial and commercial life came to
a standstill that the people might troop to the show —
masters, workmen, women, old men, children, members of
Congress, soldiers, magistrates, reporters, white natives and

THE GOAHEAD IS LAUNCHED 137

black natives, all were there. We need not stop to describe
the excitement, the unaccountable movements, the sudden
pushings, which made the mass heave and swell. Nor
need we recount the number of cheers which rose from all
sides like fireworks when Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans
appeared on the platform and hoisted the American colors.
Need we say that the majority of the crowd had come from
afar not_ so much to see the Goahead as to gaze on these
extraordinary men?

Why two and not three? Why not Frycollin? Because
Frycollin thought his campaign in the Albatross sufficient
for his fame. He had declined the honor of accompanying
his master, and he took no part in the frenzied acclamations
that greeted the president and secretary of the Weldon In-
stitute.

Of the members of the illustrious assembly not one was
absent from the reserved places within the ropes. There
were Truck Milnor, Bat T. Fynn, and William T. Forbes
with his two daughters on his arm. All had come to affirm
by their presence that nothing could separate them from
the partisans of " lighter than air."

About twenty minutes past eleven a gun announced the
end of the final preparations. The Goahead only waited
the signal to start. At twenty-five minutes past eleven the
second gun was fired.

The Goahead was about one hundred and fifty feet above
the clearing, and was held by a rope. In this way the plat-
form commanded the excited crowd. Uncle Prudent and
Phil Evans stood upright and placed their left hands on
their hearts, to signify how deeply they were touched by
their reception. Then they extended their right hands to-
wards the zenith, to signify that the greatest of known
balloons was about to take possession of the supra-terrestrial
domain.

A hundred thousand hands were placed in answer on a
hundred thousand hearts, and a hundred thousand other
hands were lifted to the sky.

The third gun was fired at half-past eleven. " Let go ! "
shouted Uncle Prudent; and the Goahead rose "majes-
tically " — an adverb consecrated by custom to all aerostatic
ascents.

It really was a superb spectacle. It seemed as if a vessel

138 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

were just launched from the stocks. And was she not a
vessel launched into the aerial sea? The Goahead went up
in a perfectly vertical line — a proof of the calmness of the
atmosphere — and stopped at an altitude of eight hundred
feet.

Then she began her horizontal maneuvering. With her
screws going she moved to the east at a speed of twelve
yards a second. That is the speed of the whale — not an
inappropriate comparison, for the balloon was somewhat
of the shape of the giant of the northern seas.

A salvo of cheers mounted towards the skillful aeronauts.

Then, under the influence of her rudder, the Goahead
went through all the evolutions that her steersman could
give her. She turned in a small circle ; she moved forwards
and backwards in a way to convince the most refractory
disbeliever in the guiding of balloons. And if there had
been any disbeliever there he would have been simply
annihilated.

But why was there no wind to assist at this magnificent
experiment? It was regrettable. Doubtless the spectators
would have seen the Goahead unhesitatingly execute all the
movements of a sailing-vessel in beating to windward, or of
a steamer driving in the wind's eye.

At this moment the aerostat rose a few hundred yards.

The maneuver was understood below. Uncle Prudent
and his companions were going in search of a breeze in the
higher zones, so as to complete the experiment. The sys-
tem of cellular balloons — analogous to the swimming blad-
der in fishes — into which could be introduced a certain
amount of air by pumping, had provided for this vertical
motion. Without throwing out ballast or losing gas the
aeronaut was able to rise or sink at his will. Of course
there was a valve in the upper hemisphere which would
permit of a rapid descent if found necessary. All these
contrivances are well known, but they were here fitted in
perfection.

The Goahead then rose vertically. Her enormous dimen-
sions gradually grew smaller to the eye, and the necks of
the crowd were almost cricked as they gazed into the air.
Gradually the whale became a porpoise, and the porpoise be-
came a gudgeon. The ascensional movement did not cease
until the Goahead had reached a height of fourteen thousand

THE GOAHEAD IS LAUNCHED 139

feet. But the air was so free from mist that she remained
clearly visible.

However, she remained over the clearing as if she were
a fixture. An immense bell had imprisoned the atmos-
phere and deprived it of movement; not a breath of wind
was there, high or low. The aerostat maneuvered without
encountering any resistance, seeming very small owing to
the distance, much as if she were being looked at through
the wrong end of a telescape.

Suddenly there was a shout among the crowd, a shout
followed by a hundred thousand more. All hands were
stretched towards a point on the horizon. That point was
the northwest.

There in the deep azure appeared a moving body, which
was approaching and growing larger. Was it a bird beat-
ing with its wings the higher zones of space? Was it an
aerolite shooting obliquely through the atmosphere? In
any case, its speed was terrific, and it would soon be above
the crowd.

A suspicion communicated itself electrically to the brains
of all on the clearing.

But it seemed as though the Goahead had sighted this
strange object. Assuredly it seemed as though she feared
some danger, for her speed was increased, and she was
going east as fast as she could.

Yes, the crowd saw what it meant! A name uttered
by one of the members of the Weldon Institute was repeated
by a hundred thousand mouths :

" The Albatross ! the Albatross ! "

CHAPTER XIII

THE GRAND COLLAPSE

It was indeed the Albatross ! It was indeed Robur who
had reappeared in the heights of the sky! It was he who
like a huge bird of prey was going to strike the Goahead.

And yet, nine months before, the aeronef, shattered by
the explosion, her screws broken, her deck smashed in two,
had been apparently annihilated.

Without the prodigious coolness of the engineer, who
reversed the gyratory motion of the fore propeller and con-

140 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

verted it into a suspensory screw, the men of the Albatross
would all have been asphyxiated by the fall. But if they
had escaped asphyxia, how had they escaped being drowned
in the Pacific?

The remains of the deck, the blades of the propellers,
•the compartments of the cabins, all formed a sort of raft.
When a wounded bird falls on the waves its wings keep it
afloat. For several hours Robur and his men remained un-
helped, at first on the wreck, and afterwards in the india-
rubber boat that had fallen uninjured. A few hours after
sunrise they were sighted by a passing ship, and a boat was
lowered to their rescue.

Robur and his companions were saved, and so was much
of what remained of the aeronef. The engineer said that
his ship had perished in a collision, and no further questions
were asked him.

The ship was an English three-master, the Two Friends,
bound to Melbourne, where she arrived a few days after-
wards.

Robur was in Australia, but a long way from X Island,
to which he desired to return as soon as possible.

In the ruins of the aftermost cabin he had found a con-
siderable sum of money, quite enough to provide for him-
self and companions without applying to anyone for help.
A short time after he arrived in Melbourne he became the
owner of a small brigantine of about a hundred tons, and
in her he sailed for X Island.

There he had but one idea — to be avenged. But to secure
his vengeance he would have to make another Albatross.
This after all was an easy task for him who made the first.
He used up what he could of the old material; the propellers
and engines he had brought back in the brigantine. The
mechanism was fitted with new piles and new accumulators,
and, in short, in less than eight months the work was
finished and a new Albatross, identical with the one de-
stroyed by the explosion, was ready to take flight. And he
had the same crew.

The Albatross left X Island in the first week of April.
During this aerial passage Robur did not want to be seen
from the earth, and he came along almost always above the
clouds. When he arrived over North America he descended
in a desolate spot in the Far West. There the engineer,

THE GRAND COLLAPSE 141

keeping a profound incognito, learnt with considerable
pleasure that the Weldon Institute was about to begin its
experiments, and that the Goahead, with Uncle Prudent and
Phil Evans, was going to start from Philadelphia on the
29th of April.

Here was a chance for Robur and his crew to gratify
their longing for revenge ! Here was a chance of inflicting
on their foes a terrible vengeance, which in the Goahead
they could not escape! A public vengeance, which would
at the same time prove the superiority of the aeronef to all
aerostats and contrivances of that nature!

And that is why, on this very day, like a vulture from
the clouds, the aeronef appeared over Fairmont Park.

Yes ! It was the Albatross, easily recognized by all those
who had never before seen her.

The Goahead was in full flight; but it soon appeared
that she could not escape horizontally, and so she sought
her safety in a vertical direction, not dropping to the
ground, for the aeronef would have cut her off, but rising
to a zone where she could not perhaps be reached. This
was very daring, and at the same time very logical.

But the Albatross began to rise after her. Although she
was smaller than the Goahead, it was a case of the sword-
fish and the whale.

This could easily be seen from below, and with what
anxiety! In a few moments the aerostat had attained a
height of sixteen thousand feet.

The Albatross followed her as she rose. She flew round
her flanks, and maneuvered round her in a circle with a
constantly diminishing radius. She could have annihilated
her at a stroke, and Uncle Prudent and his companions
would have been dashed to atoms in a frightful fall.

The people, mute with horror, gazed breathlessly; they
were seized with that sort of fear which presses on the
chest and grips the legs when we see anyone fall from a
height. An aerial combat was beginning in which there
were none of the chances of safety as in a sea-fight. It
was the first of its kind, but it would not be the last, for
progress is one of the laws of this world. And if the Go-
ahead was flying the American colors, did not the Albatross
display the stars and golden sun of Robur the Conqueror?

The Goahead tried to distance her enemy by rising still

142 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

higher. She threw away the ballast she had in reserve;
she made a new leap of three thousand feet; she was now
but a dot in space. The Albatross, which followed her
round and round at top speed, was now invisible.

Suddenly a shout of terror rose from the crowd. The
Goahead increased rapidly in size, and the aeronef appeared
dropping with her. This time it was a fall. The gas had
dilated in the higher zones of the atmosphere and had burst
the balloon, which, half inflated still, was falling rapidly.

But the aeronef, slowing her suspensory screws, came
down just as fast. She ran alongside the Goahead when
she was not more than four thousand feet from the ground.
Would Robur destroy her?
No ; he was going to save her crew !
And so cleverly did he handle his vessel that the aeronaut
jumped on board.

Would Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans refuse to be saved
by him? They were quite capable of doing so. But the
crew threw themselves on them and dragged them by force
from the Goahead to the Albatross.

Then the aeronef glided off and remained stationary,
while the balloon, quite empty of gas, fell on the trees of
the clearing and hung there like a gigantic rag.

An appalling silence reigned on the ground. It seemed
as though life were suspended in each of the crowd; and
many eyes had been closed so as not to behold the final
catastrophe.

Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans had again become the
prisoners of the redoubtable Robur. Now he had recap-
tured them, would he carry them off into space, where it
was impossible to follow him?
It seemed so.

However, instead of mounting into the sky the Albatross
continued falling. Was she coming down to the ground?
It looked like it, and the crowd divided so as to leave a
space for her in the center of the clearing.

The excitement was at its maximum. The Albatross
stopped six feet from the ground. Then, amid profound
silence, the engineer's voice was heard.

" Citizens of the United States," he said, " the president
and secretary of the Weldon Institute are again in my
power. In keeping them I am only within my right. But

THE GRAND COLLAPSE 143

from the passion kindled in them by the success of the Al-
batross I see that their minds are not prepared for that
important revolution which the conquest of the air will one
day bring. Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, you are free ! "

The president, the secretary, and the aeronaut had only
to jump down.

Then Robur continued:

" Citizens of the United States, my experiment is finished;
but my advice to those present is to be premature in noth-
ing, not even in progress. It is evolution and not revolu-
tion that we should seek. In a word, we must not be before
our time. I have come too soon to-day to withstand such
contradictory and divided interests as yours. Nations are
not yet fit for union.

" I go, then ; and I take my secret with me. But it will
not be lost to humanity. It will belong to you the day you
are educated enough to profit by it and wise enough not to
abuse it. Citizens of the United States ! Good-by ! "

And the Albatross, beating the air with her seventy-four
screws, and driven by her propellers, shot off towards the
east amid a tempest of cheers.

The two colleagues, profoundly humiliated, as through
them was the whole Weldon Institute, did the only thing
they could. They went home.

And the crowd by a sudden change of front greeted them
with particularly keen sarcasms, and, at their expense, are
sarcastic still.

And now, who is this Robur? Shall we ever know?

We know to-day. Robur is the science of the future.
Perhaps the science of to-morrow! Certainly the science
that will come !

Does the Albatross still cruise in the atmosphere in the
realm that none can take from her? There is no reason
to doubt it. Will Robur, the Conqueror, appear one day
as he said? Yes! He will come to declare the secret of

144 ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

his invention, which will greatly change the social and
political conditions of the world.

As for the future of aerial locomotion, it belongs to the
aeronef and not the aerostat.

It is to the Albatross that the conquest of the air will
assuredly fall.

THE END

The Master of the World

V. XIV Verne

The Master of the World

CHAPTER I

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MOUNTAINS

F I speak of myself in this story, it is because
I have been deeply involved in its startling
events, events doubtless among the most ex-
traordinary which this twentieth century will
witness. Sometimes I even ask myself if all
this has really happened, if its pictures dwell
in truth in my memory, and not merely in my imagination.
In my position as head inspector in the federal police de-
partment at Washington, urged on moreover by the desire,
which has always been very strong in me, to investigate
and understand everything which is mysterious, I naturally
became much interested in these remarkable occurrences.
And as I have been employed by the government in various
important affairs and secret missions since I was a mere lad,
it also happened very naturally that the head of my depart-
ment placed in my charge this astonishing investigation,
wherein I found myself wrestling with so many impene-
trable mysteries.

In the remarkable passages of the recital, it is important
that you should believe my word. For some of the facts
I can bring no other testimony than my own. If you do
not wish to believe me, so be it. I can scarce believe it all
myself.

The strange occurrences began in the western part of our
great American State of North Carolina. There, deep
amid the Blueridge Mountains rises the crest called the
Great Eyrie. Its huge rounded form is distinctly seen
from the little town of Morganton on the Catawba River,
and still more clearly as one approaches the mountains by
way of the village of Pleasant Garden.

Why the name of Great Eyrie was originally given this
mountain by the people of the surrounding region, I am not
quite sure. It rises rocky and grim and inaccessible, and
under certain atmospheric conditions has a peculiarly blue
and distant effect. But the idea one would naturally get

147

148 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

from the name is of a refuge for birds of prey, eagles,
condors, vultures; the home of vast numbers of the
feathered tribes, wheeling and screaming above peaks be-
yond the reach of man. Now, the Great Eyrie did not
seem particularly attractive to birds; on the contrary, the
people of the neighborhood began to remark that on some
days when birds approached its summit they mounted still
further, circled high above the crest, and then flew swiftly
away, troubling the air with harsh cries.

Why then the name Great Eyrie? Perhaps the mount
might better have been called a crater, for in the center
of those steep and rounded walls there might well be a huge,
deep basin. Perhaps there might even lie within their cir-
cuit a mountain lake, such as exists in other parts of the
Appalachian mountain system, a lagoon fed by the rain and
the winter snows.

In brief was not this the site of an ancient volcano, one
which had slept through ages, but whose inner fires might
yet reawake? Might not the Great Eyrie reproduce in its
neighborhood the violence of Mount Krakatoa or the ter-
rible disaster of Mont Pelee? If there were indeed a cen-
tral lake, was there not danger that its waters, penetrating
the strata beneath, would be turned to steam by the volcanic
fires and tear their way forth in a tremendous explosion, de-
luging the fair plains of Carolina with an eruption such as
that of 1902 in Martinique?

Indeed, with regard to this last possibility there had been
certain symptoms recently observed which might well be due
to volcanic action. Smoke had floated above the mountain
and once the country folk passing near had heard subter-
ranean noises, unexplainable rumblings. A glow in the sky
had crowned the height at night.

When the wind blew the smoky cloud eastward toward
Pleasant Garden, a few cinders and ashes drifted down
from it. And finally one stormy night pale flames, reflected
from the clouds above the summit, cast upon the district
below a sinister, warning light.

In presence of these strange phenomena, it is not aston-
ishing that the people of the surrounding district became
seriously disquieted. And to the disquiet was joined an
imperious need of knowing the true condition of the moun-
tain. The Carolina newspapers had flaring headlines, u The

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MOUNTAINS 149

Mystery of Great Eyrie!" They asked if it was not
dangerous to dwell in such a region. Their articles aroused
curiosity and fear — curiosity among those who being in no
danger themselves were interested in the disturbance merely
as a strange phenomenon of nature, fear in those who were
likely to be the victims if a catastrophe actually occurred.
Those more immediately threatened were the citizens of
Morganton, and even more the good folk of Pleasant Gar-
den and the hamlets and farms yet closer to the mountain.

Assuredly it was regrettable that mountain climbers had
not previously attempted to ascend to the summit of the
Great Eyrie. The cliffs of rock which surrounded it had
never been scaled. Perhaps they might offer no path by
which even the most daring climber could penetrate to the
interior. Yet, if a volcanic eruption menaced all the west-
ern region of the Carolinas, then a complete examination of
the mountain was become absolutely necessary.

Now before the actual ascent of the crater, with its many
serious difficulties, was attempted, there was one way which
offered an opportunity of reconnoitering the interior, with-
out clambering up the precipices. In the first days of
September of that memorable year, a well-known aeronaut
named Wilker came to Morganton with his balloon. By
waiting for a breeze from the east, he could easily rise in
his balloon and drift over the Great Eyrie. There from a
safe height above he could search with a powerful glass into
its deeps. Thus he would know if the mouth of a volcano
really opened amid the mighty rocks. This was the prin-
cipal question. If this were settled, it would be known if
the surrounding country must fear an eruption at some
period more or less distant.

The ascension was begun according to the programme
suggested. The wind was fair and steady; the sky clear;
the morning clouds were disappearing under the vigorous
rays of the sun. If the interior of the Great Eyrie was not
filled with smoke, the aeronaut would be able to search with
his glass its entire extent. If the vapors were rising, he,
no doubt, could detect their source.

The balloon rose at once to a height of fifteen hundred
feet, and there rested almost motionless for a quarter of an
hour. Evidently the east wind, which was brisk upon the
-surface of the earth, did not make itself felt at that height.

ISO THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Then, unlucky chance, the balloon was caught in an adverse
current, and began to drift toward the east. Its distance
from the mountain chain rapidly increased. Despite all the
efforts of the aeronaut, the citizens of Morganton saw the
balloon disappear on the wrong horizon. Later, they
learned that it had landed in the neighborhood of Raleigh,
the capital of North Carolina.

This attempt having failed, it was agreed that it should
be tried again under better conditions. Indeed, fresh
rumblings were heard from the mountain, accompanied by
heavy clouds and wavering glimmerings of light at night.
Folk began to realize that the Great Eyrie was a serious and
perhaps imminent source of danger. Yes, the entire coun-
try lay under the threat of some seismic or volcanic disaster.

During the first days of April of that year, these more or
less vague apprehensions turned to actual panic. The news-
papers gave prompt echo to the public terror. The entire
district between the mountains and Morganton was sure
that an eruption was at hand.

The night of the fourth of April, the good folk of
Pleasant Garden were awakened by a sudden uproar. They
thought that the mountains were falling upon them. They
rushed from their houses, ready for instant flight, fearing
to see open before them some immense abyss, engulfing the
farms and villages for miles around.

The night was very dark. A weight of heavy clouds
pressed down upon the plain. Even had it been day the
crest of the mountains would have been invisible.

In the midst of this impenetrable obscurity, there was no
response to the cries which arose from every side. Fright-
ened groups of men, women, and children groped their
way along the black roads in wild confusion. From every
quarter came the screaming voices : " It is an earthquake ! "
" It is an eruption! " "Whence comes it? " " From the
Great Eyrie! "

Into Morganton sped the news that stones, lava, ashes,
were raining down upon the country.

Shrewd citizens of the town, however, observed that if
there were an eruption the noise would have continued and
increased, the flames would have appeared above the crater ;
or at least their lurid reflections would have penetrated the
clouds. Now, even these reflections were no longer seen.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MOUNTAINS 151

If there had been an earthquake, the terrified people saw-
that at least their houses had not crumbled beneath the
shock. It was possible that the uproar had been caused by
an avalanche, the fall of some mighty rock from the summit
of the mountains.

An hour passed without other incident. A wind from
the west sweeping over the long chain of the Blueridge, set
the pines and hemlocks wailing on the higher slopes. There
seemed no new cause for panic; and folk began to return
to their houses. All, however, awaited impatiently the re-
turn of day.

Then suddenly, toward three o'clock in the morning, an-
other alarm! Flames leaped up above the rocky wall of
the Great Eyrie. Reflected from the clouds, they illumi-
nated the atmosphere for a great distance. A crackling, as
if of many burning trees, was heard.

Had a fire spontaneously broken out? And to what
cause was it due? Lightning could not have started the
conflagration ; for no thunder had been heard. True, there
was plenty of material for fire; at this height the chain of
the Blueridge is well wooded. But these flames were too
sudden for any ordinary cause.

" An eruption ! " " An eruption ! "

The cry resounded from all sides. An eruption! The
Great Eyrie was then indeed the crater of a volcano buried
in the bowels of the mountains. And after so many years,
so many ages even, had it reawakened? Added to the
flames, was a rain of stones and ashes about to follow?
Were the lavas going to pour down torrents of molten fire,
destroying everything in their passage, annihilating the
towns, the villages, the farms, all this beautiful world of
meadows, fields and forests, even as far as Pleasant Garden
and Morganton?

This time the panic was overwhelming; nothing could
stop it. Women carrying their infants, crazed with terror,
rushed along the eastward roads. Men, deserting their
homes, made hurried bundles of their most precious be-
longings and set free their livestock, cows, sheep, pigs,
which fled in all directions. What disorder resulted from
this agglomeration, human and animal, under darkest night,
amid forests, threatened by the fires of the volcano, along
the border of marshes whose waters might be upheaved and

152 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

overflow! With the earth itself threatening to disappear
from under the feet of the fugitives! Would they be in
time to save themselves, if a cascade of glowing lava came
rolling down the slope of the mountain across their route?

Nevertheless, some of the chief and shrewder farm own-
ers were not swept away in this mad flight, which they did
their best to restrain. Venturing within a mile of the
mountain, they saw that the glare of the flames was decreas-
ing. In truth it hardly seemed that the region was im-
mediately menaced by any further upheaval. No stones
were being hurled into space; no torrent of lava was visible
upon the slopes ; no rumblings rose from the ground. There
was no further manifestation of any seismic disturbance
capable of overwhelming the land.

At length, the flight of the fugitives ceased at a distance
where they seemed secure from all danger. Then a few
ventured back toward the mountain. Some farms were re-
occupied before the break of day.

By morning the crests of the Great Eyrie showed scarcely
the least remnant of its cloud of smoke. The fires were
certainly at an end; and if it were impossible to determine
their cause, one might at least hope that they would not
break out again.

It appeared possible that the Great Eyrie had not really
been the theater of volcanic phenomena at all. There was
no further evidence that the neighborhood was at the mercy
either of eruptions or of earthquakes.

Yet once more about five o'clock, from beneath the ridge
of the mountain, where the shadows of night still lingered,
a strange noise swept across the air, a sort of whirring, ac-
companied by the beating of mighty wings. And had it
been a clear day, perhaps the farmers would have seen the
passage of a mighty bird of prey, some monster of the skies,
which having risen from the Great Eyrie sped away toward
the east.

CHAPTER II

I REACH MORGANTON

The twenty-seventh of April, having left Washington
the night before, I arrived at Raleigh, the capital of the
State of North Carolina,

I REACH MORGANTON 153

Two days 'before, the head of the federal police had called
me to his room. He was awaiting me with some im-
patience. " John Strock," said he, " are you still the man
who on so many occasions has proven to me both his devo-
tion and his ability? "

" Mr. Ward," I answered, with a bow, " I cannot promise
success or even ability, but as to devotion, I assure you, it
is yours."

" I do not doubt it," responded the chief. " And I will
ask you instead this more exact question : Are you as fond
of riddles as ever? As eager to penetrate into mysteries,
as I have known you before? "

" I am, Mr. Ward."

" Good, Strock ; then listen."

Mr. Ward, a man of about fifty years, of great power
and intellect, was fully master of the important position he
filled. He had several times entrusted to me difficult mis-
sions which I had accomplished successfully, and which had
won me his confidence. For several months past, however,
he had found no occasion for my services. Therefore I
awaited with impatience what he had to say. I did not
doubt that his questioning implied a serious and important
task for me.

"Doubtless you know," said he, "what has happened
down in the Blueridge Mountains near Morganton."

" Surely, _Mr. Ward, the phenomena reported from there
have been singular enough to arouse anyone's curiosity."

" They are singular, even remarkable, Strock. No doubt
about that. But there is also reason to ask, if these
phenomena about the Great Eyrie are not a source of con-
tinued danger to the people there, if they are not
forerunners of some disaster as terrible as it is myste-
rious."

" It is to be feared, sir."

" So we must know, Strock, what is inside of that moun-
tain. If we are helpless in the face of some great force of
nature, people must be warned in time of the danger which
threatens them."

" It is clearly the duty of the authorities, Mr. Ward," re-
sponded I, " to learn what is going on within there."

"True, Strock; but that presents great difficulties.
Everyone reports that it is impossible to scale the precipices

154 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

of the Great Eyrie and reach its interior. But has anyone
ever attempted it with scientific appliances and under the
best conditions? I doubt it, and believe a resolute attempt
may bring success."

" Nothing is impossible, Mr. Ward ; what we face here
is merely a question of expense."

" We must not regard expense when we are seeking to
reassure an entire population, or to preserve it from a catas-
trophe. There is another suggestion I would make to you.
Perhaps this Great Eyrie is not so inaccessible as is sup-
posed. Perhaps a band of malefactors have secreted them-
selves there, gaining access by ways known only to them-
selves."

" What ! You suspect that robbers "

" Perhaps I am wrong, Strock ; and these strange sights
and sounds have all had natural causes. Well, that is what
we have to settle, and as quickly as possible."

" I have one question to ask."

" Go ahead, Strock."

" When the Great Eyrie has been visited, when we knowi
the source of these phenomena, if there really is a crater
there and an eruption is imminent, can we avert it? "

"No, Strock; but we can estimate the extent of the
danger. If some volcano in the Alleghanies threatens North
Carolina with a disaster similar to that of Martinique,
buried beneath the outpourings of Mont Pelee, then these
people must leave their homes "

" I hope, sir, there is no such widespread danger."

" I think not, Strock ; it seems to me highly improbable
that an active volcano exists in the Blueridge mountain
chain. Our Appalachian mountain system is nowhere vol-
canic in its origin. But all these events cannot be without
basis. In short, Strock, we have decided to make a strict
inquiry into the phenomena of the Great Eyrie, to gather all
the testimony, to question the people of the towns and
farms. To do this, I have made choice of an agent in
whom we have full confidence; and this agent is you,
Strock."

" Good ! I am ready, Mr. Ward," cried I, " and be sure
that I shall neglect nothing to bring you full information."

" I know it, Strock, and I will add that I regard you as
specially fitted for the work. You will have a splendid op-

I REACH MORGANTON 155

portunity to exercise, and I hope to satisfy, your favorite
passion of curiosity."

" As you say, sir."

" You will be free to act according to circumstances. As
to expenses, if there seems reason to organize an ascension
party, which will be costly, you have carte blanche."

" I will act as seems best, Mr. Ward."

" Let me caution you to act with all possible discretion.
The people in the vicinity are already over-excited. It will
be well to move secretly. Do not mention the suspicions I
have suggested to you. And above all, avoid arousing any
fresh panic."

" It is understood."

"You will be accredited to the Mayor of Morganton,
who will assist you. Once more, be prudent, Strock, and
acquaint no one with your mission, unless it is absolutely
necessary. You have often given proofs of your intel-
ligence and address; and this time I feel assured you will
succeed."

I asked him only " When shall I start? "

" To-morrow."

" To-morrow, I shall leave Washington ; and the day
after, I shall be at Morganton."

How little suspicion had I of what the future had in store
for me !

I returned immediately to my house where I made my
preparations for departure; and the next evening found me
in Raleigh. There I passed the night, and in the course of
the next afternoon arrived at the railroad station of Mor-
ganton.

Morganton is but a small town, built upon strata
of the Jurassic period, particularly rich in coal. Its
mines give it some prosperity. It also has numerous un-
pleasant mineral waters, so that the season there at-
tracts many visitors. Around Morganton is a rich farm-
ing country, with broad fields of grain. It lies in the midst
of swamps, covered with mosses and reeds. Evergreen
forests rise high up the mountain slopes. All that the
region lacks is the wells of natural gas, that invaluable
natural source of power, light, and warmth, so abundant
in most of the Alleghany valleys. Villages and farms are
numerous up to the very borders of the mountain forests.

156 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Thus there were many thousands of people threatened, if
the Great Eyrie proved indeed a volcano, if the convulsions
of nature extended to Pleasant Garden and to Morganton.
The mayor of Morganton, Mr. Elias Smith, was a tall
man, vigorous and enterprising, forty years old or more,
and of a health to defy all the doctors of the two Americas.
He was a great hunter of bears and panthers, beasts which
may still be found in the wild gorges and mighty forests
of the Alleghanies.

Mr. Smith was himself a rich land-owner, possessing
several farms in the neighborhood. Even his most distant
tenants received frequent visits from him. Indeed, when-
ever his official duties did not keep him in his so-called home
at Morganton, he was exploring the surrounding country,
irresistibly drawn by the instincts of the hunter.

I went at once to the house of Mr. Smith. He was ex-
pecting me, having been warned by telegram. He received
me very frankly, without any formality, his pipe in his
mouth, a glass of brandy on the table. A second glass
was brought in by a servant, and I had to drink to my host
before beginning our interview.

" Mr. Ward sent you," said he to me in a jovial tone.
" Good; let us drink to Mr. Ward's health."

I clinked glasses with him, and drank in honor of the
chief of police.

_ " And now," demanded Elias Smith, " what is worrying
him? "

At this I made known to the mayor of Morganton the
cause and the purpose of my mission in North Carolina. I
assured him that my chief had given me full power, and
would render me every assistance, financial and otherwise,
to solve the riddle and relieve the neighborhood of its
anxiety relative to the Great Eyrie.

Elias Smith listened to me without uttering a word, but
not without several times refilling his glass and mine.
While he puffed steadily at his pipe, the close attention
which he gave me was beyond question. I saw his cheeks
flush at times, and his eyes gleam under their bushy brows.
Evidently the chief magistrate of Morganton was uneasy
about Great Eyrie, and would be as eager as I to discover
the cause of these phenomena.

When I had finished my communication, Elias Smith

I REACH MORGANTON 157

gazed at me for some moments in silence. Then he said,
softly, " So at Washington they wish to know what the
Great Eyrie hides within its circuit? "

" Yes, Mr. Smith."

"And you, also?"

" I do."

" So do I, Mr. Strode."

He and I were as one in our curiosity.

" You will understand," added he, knocking the cinders
from his pipe, " that as a land-owner, I am much interested
in these stories of the Great Eyrie, and as mayor, I wish to
protect my constituents."

" A double reason," I commented, " to stimulate you to
discover the cause of these extraordinary occurrences!
Without doubt, my dear Mr. Smith, they have appeared to
you as inexplicable and as threatening as to your people."

" Inexplicable, certainly, Mr. Strock. For on my part,
I do not believe it possible that the Great Eyrie can be a
volcano; the Alleghanies are nowhere of volcanic origin.
I, myself, in our immediate district, have never found any
geological traces of scoria, or lava, or any 'eruptive rock
whatever. I do not think, therefore, that Morganton can
possibly be threatened from such a source."

" You really think not, Mr. Smith? "

" Certainly."

" But these tremblings of the earth that have been felt
in the neighborhood ! "

" Yes these tremblings ! These tremblings ! " repeated
Mr. Smith, shaking his head ; " but in the first place, is it
certain that there have been tremblings? At the moment
when the flames showed most sharply, I was on my farm of
Wildon, less than a mile from the Great Eyrie. There was
certainly a tumult in the air, but I felt no quivering of the
earth."

" But in the reports sent to Mr. Ward "

" Reports made under the impulse of the panic," inter-
rupted the mayor of Morganton. " I said nothing of any
earth tremors in mine."

" But as to the flames which rose clearly above the
crest? "

" Yes, as to those, Mr. Strock, that is different. I saw
them ; saw them with my own eyes, and the clouds certainly

158 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

reflected them for miles around. Moreover noises certainly
came from the crater of the Great Eyrie, hissings, as if a
great boiler were letting off steam."
" You have reliable testimony of this? "
" Yes, the evidence of my own ears."
" And in the midst of this noise, Mr. Smith, did you be-
lieve that you heard that most remarkable of all the phenom-
ena, a sound like the flapping of great wings? "

" I thought so, Mr. Strock ; but what mighty bird could
this be, which sped away after the flames had died down,
and what wings could ever make such tremendous sounds.
I therefore seriously question, if this must not have been a
deception of my imagination. The Great Eyrie a refuge
for unknown monsters of the sky! Would they not have
been seen long since, soaring above their immense nest of
stone? In short, there is in all this a mystery which has
not yet been solved."

" But we will solve it, Mr. Smith, if you will give me
your aid."

" Surely, Mr. Strock ; to-morrow we will start our cam-
paign."

" To-morrow." And on that word the mayor and I
separated. I went to a hotel, and established myself for a
stay which might be indefinitely prolonged. Then having
dined, and written to Mr. Ward, I saw Mr. Smith again
in the afternoon, and arranged to leave Morganton with
him at daybreak.

Our first purpose was to undertake the ascent of the
mountain, with the aid of two experienced guides. These
men had ascended Mt. Mitchell and others of the highest
peaks of the Blueridge. They had never, however, at-
tempted the Great Eyrie, knowing that its walls of inac-
cessible cliffs defended it on every side. Moreover, before
the recent startling occurrences the Great Eyrie had not
particularly attracted the attention of tourists. Mr. Smith
knew the two guides personally as men daring, skillful and
trustworthy. They would stop at no obstacle ; and we were
resolved to follow them through everything.

Moreover Mr. Smith remarked at the last that perhaps
it was no longer as difficult as formerly to penetrate within
the Great Eyrie.

"And why?" asked I.

I REACH MORGANTON 159

" Because a huge block has recently broken away from
the mountain side and perhaps it has left a practicable path
or entrance."

" That would be a fortunate chance, Mr. Smith."

" We shall know all about it, Mr. Strock, no later than
to-morrow."

" Till to-morrow, then."

CHAPTER III

THE GREAT EYRIE

The next day at dawn, Elias Smith and I left Morganton
by a road which, winding along the left bank of the Catawba
River, led to the village of Pleasant Garden. The guides
accompanied us, Harry Horn, a man of thirty, and James
Bruck, aged twenty-five. They were both natives of the
region, and in constant demand among the tourists who
climbed the peaks of the Blueridge and Cumberland Moun-
tains.

A light wagon with two good horses was provided to
carry us to the foot of the range. It contained provisions
for two or three days, beyond which our trip surely would
not be protracted. Mr. Smith had shown himself a gener-
ous provider both in meats and in liquors. As to water,
the mountain springs would furnish it in abundance, in-
creased by the heavy rains, frequent in that region during
springtime.

It is needless to add that the Mayor of Morganton in his
role of hunter, had brought along his gun and his dog
Nisko, who gamboled joyously about the wagon. Nisko,
however, was to remain behind at the farm at Wildon, when
we attempted our ascent. He could not possibly follow us
up the Great Eyrie with its cliffs to scale and its crevasses
to cross.

The day was beautiful, the fresh air in that climate is
still cool of an April morning. A few fleecy clouds sped
rapidly overhead, driven by a light breeze which swept
across the long plains, from the distant Atlantic. The sun,
peeping forth at intervals, illumined all the fresh young ver-
dure of the countryside.

An entire world animated the woods through which we

160 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

passed. From before our equipage fled squirrels, field-
mice, parroquets of brilliant colors and deafening loquacity.
Opossums passed in hurried leaps, bearing their young in
their pouches. Myriads of birds were scattered amid the
foliage of banyans, palms, and masses of rhododendrons,
so luxuriant that their thickets were impenetrable.

We arrived that evening at Pleasant Garden, where we
were comfortably located for the night with the mayor of
the town, a particular friend of Mr. Smith. Pleasant Gar-
den proved little more than a village ; but its mayor gave us
a warm and generous reception, and we supped pleasantly
in his charming home, which stood beneath the shades of
some giant beech-trees.

Naturally the conversation turned upon our attempt to
explore the interior of the Great Eyrie. " You are right,"
said our host, "until we all know what is hidden within
there, our people will remain uneasy."

" Has nothing new occurred," I asked, " since the last
appearance of flames above the Great Eyrie?"

" Nothing, Mr. Strock. From Pleasant Garden we can
see the entire crest of the mountain. Not a suspicious
noise has come down to us. Not a spark has risen. If a
legion of devils is in hiding there, they must have finished
their infernal cookery, and soared away to some other
haunt."

" Devils ! " cried Mr. Smith. " Well, I hope they have
not decamped without leaving some traces of their occupa-
tion, some parings of hoofs or horns or tails. We shall
find them out."

On the morrow, the twenty-ninth of April, we started
again at dawn. By the end of this second day, we expected
to reach the farm of Wildon at the foot of the mountain.
The country was much the same as before, except that our
road led more steeply upward. Woods and marshes alter-
nated, though the latter grew sparser, being drained by the
sun as we approached the higher levels. The country was
also less populous. There were only a few little hamlets,
almost lost beneath the beech trees, a few lonely farms,
abundantly watered by the many streams that rushed down-
ward toward the Catawba River.

The smaller birds and beasts grew yet more numerous.
"I am much tempted to take my gun," said Mr. Smith,

THE GREAT EYRIE 161

" and to go off with Nisko. This will be the first time that
I have passed here without trying my luck with the part-
ridges and hares. The good beasts will not recognize me.
But not only have we plenty of provisions, but we have a
bigger chase on hand to-day. The chase of a mystery."

" And let us hope," added I, " we do not come back dis-
appointed hunters."

In the afternoon the whole chain of the Blueridge
stretched before us at a distance of only six miles. The
mountain crests were sharply outlined against the clear sky.
Well wooded at the base, they grew more bare and showed
only stunted evergreens toward the summit. There the
scraggly trees, grotesquely twisted, gave to the rocky
heights a bleak and bizarre appearance. Here and there
the ridge rose in sharp peaks. On our right the Black
Dome, nearly seven thousand feet high, reared its gigantic
head, sparkling at times above the clouds.

"Have you ever climbed that dome, Mr. Smith?" I
asked.

" No," answered he, " but I am told that it is a very diffi-
cult ascent. A few mountaineers have climbed it ; but they
report that it has no outlook commanding the crater of the
Great Eyrie."

" That is so," said the guide, Harry Horn. " I have tried
it myself."

" Perhaps," suggested I, " the weather was unfavorable."

" On the contrary, Mr. Strock, it was unusually clear.
But the wall of the Great Eyrie on that side rose so high,
it completely hid the interior."

" Forward," cried Mr. Smith. " I shall not be sorry to
set foot where no person has ever stepped, or even looked,
before."

Certainly on this day the Great Eyrie looked tranquil
enough. As we gazed upon it, there rose from its heights
neither smoke nor flame.

Toward five o'clock our expedition halted at the Wildon
farm, where the tenants warmly welcomed their landlord.
The farmer assured us that nothing notable had happened
about the Great Eyrie for some time. We supped at a
common table with all the people of the farm ; and our sleep
that night was sound and wholly untroubled by premonitions
of the future.

V. XIV Verne

162 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

On the morrow, before break of day, we set out for the
ascent of the mountain. The height of the Great Eyrie
scarce exceeds five thousand feet. A modest altitude, often
surpassed in this section of the Alleghanies. As we were
already more than three thousand feet above sea level, the
fatigue of the ascent could not be great. A few hours
should suffice to bring us to the crest of the crater. Of
course, difficulties might present themselves, precipices to
scale, clefts and breaks in the ridge might necessitate pain-
ful and even dangerous detours. This was the unknown,
the spur to our attempt. As I said, our guides knew no
more than we upon this point. What made me anxious,
was, of course, the common report that the Great Eyrie
was wholly inaccessible. But this remained unproven.
And then there was the new chance that a fallen block had
left a breach in the rocky wall.

" At last," said Mr. Smith to me, after lighting the first
pipe of the twenty or more which he smoked each day, " we
are well started. As to whether the ascent will take more
or less time "

" In any case, Mr. Smith," interrupted I, " you and I are
fully resolved to pursue our quest to the end."

" Fully resolved, Mr. Strock."

" My chief has charged me to snatch the secret from this
demon of the Great Eyrie."

" We will snatch it from him, willing or unwilling,"
vowed Mr. Smith, calling Heaven to witness. " Even if
we have to search the very bowels of the mountain."

" As it may happen, then," said I, " that our excursion
will be prolonged beyond to-day, it will be well to look to
our provisions."

" Be easy, Mr. Strock ; our guides have food for two days
in their knapsacks, besides what we carry ourselves.
Moreover, though I left my brave Nisko at the farm, I
have my gun. Game will be plentiful in the woods and
gorges of the lower part of the mountain, and perhaps at
the top we shall find a fire to cook it, already lighted."

"Already lighted, Mr. Smith?"

" And why not, Mr. Strock ? These flames ! These su-
perb flames, which have so terrified our country folk! Is
their fire absolutely cold, is no spark to be found beneath
their ashes? And then, if this is truly a crater, is the vol-

THE GREAT EYRIE 163

cano so wholly extinct that we cannot find there a single
ember? Bah! This would be but a poor volcano if it
hasn't enough fire even to cook an egg or roast a potato.
Come, I repeat, we shall see ! We shall see ! "

At that point of the investigation I had, I confess, no
opinion formed. I had my orders to examine the Great
Eyrie. If it proved harmless, I would announce it, and
people would be reassured. But at heart, I must admit, I
had the very natural desire of a man possessed by the demon
of curiosity. I should be glad, both for my own sake, and
for the renown which would attach to my mission if the
Great Eyrie proved the center of the most remarkable
phenomena — of which I would discover the cause.

Our ascent began in this order. The two guides went in
front to seek out the most practicable paths. Elias Smith
and I followed more leisurely. We mounted by a narrow
and not very steep gorge amid rocks and trees. A tiny
stream trickled downward under our feet. During the
rainy season or after a heavy shower, the water doubtless
bounded from rock to rock in tumultuous cascades. But
it evidently was fed only by the rain, for now we could
scarcely trace its course. It could not be the outlet of any
lake within the Great Eyrie.

After an hour of climbing, the slope became so steep
that we had to turn, now to the right, now to the left; and
our progress was much delayed. Soon the gorge became
wholly impracticable; its cliff -like sides offered no sufficient
foothold. We had to cling by branches, to crawl upon our
knees. At this rate the top would not be reached before
sundown.

" Faith ! " cried Mr. Smith, stopping for breath, " I real-
ize why the climbers of the Great Eyrie have been few, so
few, that it has never been ascended within my knowledge."

" The fact is," I responded, " that it would be much toil
for very little profit. And if we had not special reasons
to persist in our attempt "

" You never said a truer word," declared Harry Horn.
"My comrade and I have scaled the Black Dome several
times, but we never met such obstacles as these."

" The difficulties seem almost impassable," added Tames
Bruck.

The question now was to determine to which side we

164 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

should turn for a new route; to right, as to left, arose im-
penetrable masses of trees and bushes. In truth even the
scaling of cliffs would have been more easy. Perhaps if
we could get above this wooded slope we could advance with
surer foot. Now, we could only go ahead blindly, and
trust to the instincts of our two guides. James Bruck was
especially useful. I believe that that gallant lad would
have equaled a monkey in lightness and a wild goat in
agility. Unfortunately, neither Elias Smith nor I was able
to climb where he could.

However, when it is a matter of real need with me, I trust
I shall never be backward, being resolute by nature and well-
trained in bodily exercise. Where James Bruck went, I
was determined to go, also; though it might cost me some
uncomfortable falls. But it was not the same with the
first magistrate of Morganton, less young, less vigorous,
larger, stouter, and less persistent than we others. Plainly
he made every effort, not to retard our progress, but he
panted like a seal, and soon I insisted on his stopping to
rest.

In short, it was evident that the ascent of the Great Eyrie
would require far more time than we had estimated. We
had expected to reach the foot of the rocky wall before
eleven o'clock, but we now saw that mid-day would still
find us several hundred feet below it.

Toward ten o'clock, after repeated attempts to discover
some more practicable route, after numberless turnings and
returnings, one of the guides gave the signal to halt. We
found ourselves at last on the upper border of the heavy
wood. The trees, more thinly spaced, permitted us a
glimpse upward to the base of the rocky wall which consti-
tuted the true Great Eyrie.

" Whew ! " exclaimed Mr. Smith, leaning against a
mighty pine tree, " a little respite, a little repose, and even
a little repast would not go badly."

" We will rest an hour," said I.

" Yes ; after working our lungs and our legs, we will
make our stomachs work."

We were all agreed on this point. A rest would cer-
tainly freshen us. Our only cause for inquietude was now
the appearance of the precipitous slope above us. We
looked up toward one of those bare strips called in that

THE GREAT EYRIE 165

region, slides. Amid this loose earth, these yielding
stones, and these abrupt rocks there was no roadway.

Harry Horn said to his comrade, " It will not be easy."

" Perhaps impossible," responded Brack.

Their comments caused me secret uneasiness. If I re-
turned without even having scaled the mountain, my mis-
sion would be a complete failure, without speaking of the
torture to my curiosity. And when I stood again before
Mr. Ward, shamed and confused, I should cut but a sorry
figure.

We opened our knapsacks and lunched moderately on
bread and cold meat. Our repast finished, in less than half
an hour, Mr. Smith sprang up eager to push forward once
more. James Bruck took the lead ; and we had only to fol-
low him as best we could.

We advanced slowly. Our guides did not attempt to
conceal their doubt and hesitation. Soon Horn left us and
went far ahead to spy out which road promised most chance
of success.

Twenty minutes later he returned and led us onward to-
ward the northwest. It was on this side that the Black
Dome rose at a distance of three or four miles. Our path
was still difficult and painful, amid the sliding stones, held
in place only occasionally by wiry bushes. At length after
a weary struggle, we gained some two hundred feet further
upward and found ourselves facing a great gash, which
broke the earth at this spot. Here and there were scattered
roots recently uptorn, branches broken off, huge stones re-
duced to powder, as if an avalanche had rushed down this
flank of the mountain.

" That must be the path taken by the huge block which
broke away from the Great Eyrie," commented James
Bruck.

" No doubt," answered Mr. Smith, " and I think we had
better follow the road that it has made for us."

It was indeed this gash that Harry Horn had selected for
our ascent. Our feet found lodgment in the firmer earth
which had resisted the passage of the monster rock. Our
task thus became much easier, and our progress was m a
straight line upward, so that toward half past eleven we
reached the upper border of the " slide."

Before us, less than a hundred feet away, but towering a

1 66 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

hundred feet straight upwards in the air rose the rocky wall
which formed the final crest, the last defence of the Great
Eyrie.

_ From this side, the summit of the wall showed capri-
ciously irregular, rising in rude towers and jagged needles.
At one point the outline appeared to be an enormous eagle
silhouetted against the sky, just ready to take flight. Upon
this side, at least, the precipice was insurmountable.

" Rest a minute," said Mr. Smith, " and we will see if it
is possible to make our way around the base of this cliff."

" At any rate," said Harry Horn, " the great block must
have fallen from this part of the cliff; and it has left no
breach for entering."

They were both right; we must seek entrance elsewhere.
After a rest of ten minutes, we clambered up close to the
foot of the wall, and began to make a circuit of its base.

Assuredly the Great Eyrie now took on to my eyes an
aspect absolutely fantastic. Its heights seemed peopled by
dragons and huge monsters. If chimeras, griffins, and all
the creations of mythology had appeared to guard it, I
should have been scarcely surprised.

With great difficulty and not without danger we contin-
ued our tour of this circumvallation, where it seemed that
nature had worked as man does, with careful regularity.
Nowhere was there any break in the fortification ; nowhere
a fault in the strata by which one might clamber up. Al-
ways this mighty wall, a hundred feet in height !

After an hour and a half of this laborious circuit, we re-
gained our starting-place. I could not conceal my disap-
pointment, and Mr. Smith was not less chagrined "than I.

" A thousand devils ! " cried he, " we know no better
than before what is inside this confounded Great Eyrie,
nor even if it is a crater."

" Volcano, or not," said I, " there are no suspicious noises
now; neither smoke nor flame rises above it; nothing what-
ever threatens an eruption."

This was true. A profound silence reigned around us;
and a perfectly clear sky shone overhead. We tasted the
perfect calm of great altitudes.

It was worth noting that the circumference of the huge
wall was about twelve or fifteen hundred feet. As to the
space enclosed within, we could scarce reckon that without

THE GREAT EYRIE 167

knowing the thickness lof the encompassing wall. The
surroundings were absolutely deserted. Probably not a
living creature ever mounted to this height, except the few
birds of prey which soared high above us.

Our watches showed three o'clock, and Mr. Smith cried
in disgust, " What is the use of stopping here all day ! We
shall learn nothing more. We must make a start, Mr.
Strock, if we want to get back to Pleasant Garden to-night."

I made no answer, and did not move from where I was
seated; so he called again, "Come, Mr. Strock; you don't
answer."

In truth, it cut me deeply to abandon our effort, to de-
scend the slope without having achieved my mission. I
felt an imperious need of persisting; my curiosity had re-
doubled. But what could I do? Could I tear open this
unyielding earth? Overleap the mighty cliff? Throwing
one last defiant glare at the Great Eyrie, I followed my com-
panions.

The return was effected without great difficulty. We
had only to slide down where we had so laboriously scram-
bled up. Before five o'clock we descended the last slopes
of the mountain, and the farmer of Wildon welcomed us
to a much needed meal.

"Then you didn't get inside?" said he.

" No," responded Mr. Smith, " and I believe that the
inside exists only in the imagination of our country folk."

At half past eight our carriage drew up before the house
of the Mayor of Pleasant Garden, where we passed the
night. While I strove vainly to sleep, I asked myself if I
should not stop there in the village and organize a new
ascent. But what better chance had it of succeeding than
the first? The wisest course was, doubtless, to return to
Washington and consult Mr. Ward.

So, the next day, having rewarded our two guides, I
took leave of Mr. Smith at Morganton, and that same
evening left by train for Washington.

CHAPTER IV

A MEETING OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB

Was the mystery of the Great Eyrie to be solved some
day by chances beyond our imagining? That was known
only to the future. And was the solution a matter of the
first importance? That was beyond doubt, since the safety
of the people of western Carolina perhaps depended upon
it.

Yet a fortnight after my return to Washington, public
attention was wholly distracted from this problem by an-
other very different in nature, but equally astonishing.

Toward the middle of that month of May the newspa-
pers of Pennsylvania informed their readers of some
strange occurrences in different parts of the state. On
the roads which radiated from Philadelphia, the chief city,
there circulated an extraordinary vehicle, of which no one
could describe the form, or the nature, or even the size, so
rapidly did it rush past. It was an automobile; all were
agreed on that. But as to what motor drove it, only imag-
ination could say; and when the popular imagination is
aroused, what limit is there to its hypotheses?

At that period the most improved automobiles, whether
driven by steam, gasoline, or electricity, could not accom-
plish much more than sixty miles an hour, a speed that the
railroads, with their most rapid expresses, scarce exceed
on the best lines of America and Europe. Now, this new
automobile which was astonishing the world, traveled at
more than double this speed.

It is needless to add that such a rate constituted an ex-
treme danger on the highroads, as much so for vehicles,
as for pedestrians. This rushing mass, coming like a
thunder-bolt, preceded by a formidable rumbling, caused
a whirlwind, which tore the branches from the trees along
the road, terrified the animals browsing in adjoining fields,
and scattered and killed the birds, which could not resist
the suction of the tremendous air currents engendered by
its passage.

And, a bizarre detail to which the newspapers drew par-
ticular attention, the surface of the roads was scarcely even
scratched by the wheels of the apparition, which left be-
hind it no such ruts as are usually made by heavy vehicles.
At most there was a light touch, a mere brushing of the

Hi

MEETING OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB 169

dust. It was only the tremendous speed which raised be-
hind the vehicle such whirlwinds of dust.

"It is probable," commented the New York Herald,
" that the extreme rapidity of motion destroys the weight."

Naturally there were protests from all sides. It was
impossible to permit the mad speed of this apparition which
threatened to overthrow and destroy everything in its
passage, equipages and people. But how could it be
stopped ? No one knew to whom the vehicle belonged, nor
whence it came, nor whither it went. It was seen but for
an instant as it darted forward like a bullet in its dizzy
flight. How could one seize a cannon-ball in the air, as
it leaped from the mouth of the gun?

I repeat, there was no evidence as to the character of the
propelling engine. It left behind it no smoke, no steam,
no odor of gasoline, or any other oil. It seemed probable,
therefore, that the vehicle ran by electricity, and that its
accumulators were of an unknown model, using some un-
known fluid.

The public imagination, highly excited, readily accepted
every sort of rumor about this mysterious automobile. It
was said to be a supernatural car. It was driven by a
specter, by one of the chauffeurs of hell, a goblin from an-
other world, a monster escaped from some mythological
menagerie, in short, the devil in person, who could defy
all human intervention, having at his command invisible
and infinite satanic powers.

But even Satan himself had no right to run at such speed
oyer the roads of the United States without a special per-
mit, without a number on his car, and without a regular
license. And it was certain that not a single municipality
had given him permission to go two hundred miles an hour.
Public security demanded that some means be found to un-
mask the secret of this terrible chauffeur.

Moreover, it was not only Pennsylvania that served as
the theater of his sportive eccentricities. The police re-
ported his appearance in other states; in Kentucky near
Frankfort; in Ohio near Columbus; in Tennessee near
Nashville; in Missouri near Jefferson; and finally in Illinois
in the neighborhood of Chicago.

The alarm having been given, it became the duty of the
authorities to take steps against this public danger. To ar-

170 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

rest or even to halt an apparition moving at such speed was
scarcely practicable. A better way would be to erect across
the roads solid gateways with which the flying machine
must come in contact sooner or later, and be smashed into
a thousand pieces.

" Nonsense ! " declared the incredulous. " This mad-
man would know well how to circle around such obstruc-
tions."

" And if necessary," added others, " the machine would
leap over the barriers."

" And if he is indeed the devil, he has, as a former an-
gel, presumably preserved his wings, and so he will take to
flight."

# But this last was but the suggestion of foolish old gos-
sips who did not stop to study the matter. For if the King
of Hades possessed a pair of wings, why did he obstinately
persist in running around on the earth at the risk of crush-
ing his own subjects, when he might more, easily have
hurled himself through space as free as a bird.

Such was the situation when, in the last week of May, a
fresh event occurred, which seemed to show that the United
States was indeed helpless in the hands of some unap-
proachable monster. And after the New World, would
not the Old in its turn, be desecrated by the mad career of
this remarkable automobilist?

The following occurrence was reported in all the news-
papers of the Union, and with what comments and outcries
it is easy to imagine.

( A race was to be held by the automobile Club of Wiscon-
sin, over the roads of that state of which Madison is the
capital. The route laid out formed an excellent track,
about two hundred miles in length, starting from Prairie-
du-chien on the western frontier, passing by Madison and
ending a little above Milwaukee on the borders of Lake
Michigan. Except for the Japanese road between Nikko
and Namode, bordered by giant cypresses, there is no better
track in the world than this of Wisconsin. It runs straight
and level as an arrow for sometimes fifty miles at a
stretch. Many and noted were the machines entered for
this great race. Every kind of motor vehicle was permit-
ted to compete, even motorcycles, as well as automobiles.
The machines were of all makes and nationalities. The

MEETING OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB 171

sum of the different prizes reached fifty thousand dollars,
so that the race was sure to be desperately contested. New
records were expected to be made.

Calculating on the maximum speed hitherto attained, of
perhaps eighty miles an hour, this international contest
covering two hundred miles would last about three hours.
And, to avoid all danger, the state authorities of Wisconsin
had forbidden all other traffic between Prairie-du-chien and
Milwaukee during three hours on the morning of the thir-
tieth of May. Thus, if there were any accidents, those
who suffered would be themselves to blame.

There was an enormous crowd; and it was not composed
only of the people of Wisconsin. Many thousands gath-
ered from the neighboring states of Illinois, Michigan,
Iowa, Indiana, and even from New York. Among the
sportsmen assembled were many foreigners, English,
French, Germans and Austrians, each nationality, of course,
supporting the chauffeurs of its land. Moreover, as this
was the United States, the country of the greatest gamblers
of the world, bets were made of every sort and of enormous
amounts.

The start was to be made at eight o'clock in the morning;
and to avoid crowding and the accidents which must result
from it, the automobiles were to follow each other at two
minute intervals, along the roads whose borders were
black with spectators.

The first ten racers, numbered by lot, were dispatched
between eight o'clock and twenty minutes past. Unless
there was some disastrous accident, some of these machines
would surely arrive at the goal by eleven o'clock. The'
others followed in order.

_ An hour and a half had passed. There remained but a
single contestant at Prairie-du-chien. Word was sent
back and forth by telephone every five minutes as to the
order of the racers. Midway between Madison and Mil-
waukee, the lead was held by a machine of Renault
brothers, four cylindered, of twenty horsepower, and with
Michelin tires. It was closely followed by a Harvard- Wat-
son car and by a Dion-Bouton. Some accidents had al-
ready occurred, other machines were hopelessly behind.
Not more than a dozen would contest the finish. Several
chauffeurs had been injured, but not seriously. And even

172 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

had they been killed, the death of men is but a detail, not
considered of great importance in that astonishing country,
of America.

Naturally the excitement became more intense as one
approached the finishing line near Milwaukee. There were
assembled the most curious, the most interested; and there
the passions of the moment were unchained. By ten o'clock
it was evident, that the first prize, twenty thousand dollars,
lay between five machines, two American, two French, and
one English. Imagine, therefore, the fury with which
bets were being made under the influence of national pride.
The regular book makers could scarcely meet the demands
of those who wished to wager. Offers and amounts were
hurled from lip to lip with feverish rapidity. " One to
three on the Harvard-Watson ! "

" One to two on the Dion-Bouton ! "

" Even money on the Renault ! "

These cries rang along the line of spectators at each new
announcement from the telephones.

Suddenly at half-past nine by the town clock of Prairie-
du-chien, two miles beyond that town was heard a tre-
mendous noise and rumbling which proceeded from the
midst of a flying cloud of dust accompanied by shrieks like
those of a naval siren.

Scarcely had the crowds time to draw to one side, to
escape a destruction which would have included hundreds
of victims. The cloud swept by like a hurricane. No one
could distinguish what it was that passed with such speed.
There was no exaggeration in saying that its rate was at
least one hundred and fifty miles an hour.

The apparition passed and disappeared in an instant,
leaving behind it a long train of white dust, as an express
locomotive leaves behind a train of smoke. Evidently it
was an automobile with a most extraordinary motor. If
it maintained this arrow-like speed, it would reach the con-
testants in the fore-front of the race; it would pass them
with this speed double their own; it would arrive first at
the goal.

And then from all parts arose an uproar, as soon as the
spectators had nothing more to fear.

" It is that infernal machine."

w Yes; the one the police cannot stop."

MEETING OF THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB 173

" But it has not been heard of for a fortnight."

" It was supposed to be done for, destroyed, gone for-
ever."

" It is a devil's car, driven by hellfire, and with Satan
driving! "

In truth, if he were not the devil, who could this mys-
terious chauffeur be, driving with this unbelievable veloc-
ity, his no less mysterious machine? At least it was be-
yond doubt that this was the same machine which had
already attracted so much attention. If the police believed
that they had frightened it away, that it was never to be
heard of more, well, the police were mistaken — which hap-
pens in America as elsewhere.

The first stunned moment of surprise having passed,
many people rushed to the telephones to warn those further
along the route of the danger which menaced, not only the
people, but also the automobiles scattered along the road.

When this terrible madman arrived like an avalanche
they would be smashed to pieces, ground into powder, anni-
hilated !

And from the collision might not the destroyer himself
emerge safe and sound? He must be so adroit, this chauf-
feur of chauffeurs, he must handle his machine with such
perfection of eye and hand, that he knew, no doubt, how to
escape from every situation. Fortunately the Wisconsin
authorities had taken such precautions that the road would
be clear except for contesting automobiles. But what right
had this machine among them !

And what said the racers themselves, who, warned by
telephone, had to sheer aside from the road in their struggle
for the grand prize? By their estimate, this amazing ve-
hicle was going at least one hundred and thirty miles an
hour. Fast as was their speed, it shot by them at such a
rate that they could hardly make out even the shape of the
machine, a sort of lengthened spindle, probably not over
thirty feet long. Its wheels spun with such velocity that
they could scarce be seen. For the rest, the machine left
behind it neither smoke nor scent.

As for the driver, hidden in the interior of his machine,
he had been quite invisible. He remained as unknown as
when he had first appeared on the various roads throughout
the country.

174 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Milwaukee was promptly warned of the coming of this
interloper. Fancy the excitement the news caused! The
immediate purpose agreed upon was to stop this projectile,
to erect across its route an obstacle against which it would
smash into a thousand pieces. But was there time?
Would not the machine appear at any moment? And
what need was there, since the track ended on the edge of
Lake Michigan, and so the vehicle would be forced to stop
there anyway, unless its supernatural driver could ride the
water as well as the land.

Here, also, as all along the route, the most extravagant
suggestions were offered. Even those who would not ad-
mit that the mysterious chauffeur must be Satan in persoa
allowed that he might be some monster escaped from the
fantastic visions of the Apocalypse.

And now there were no longer minutes to wait. Any
second might bring the expected apparition.

It was not yet eleven o'clock when a rumbling was heard
far down the track, and the dust rose in violent whirl-
winds. Harsh whistlings shrieked through the air warn-
ing all to give passage to the monster.

It did not slacken speed at the finish. Lake Michigan
was not half a mile beyond, and the machine must certainly
be hurled into the water ! Could it be that the mechanician
was no longer master of his mechanism?

There could be little doubt of it. Like a shooting star,
the vehicle flashed through Milwaukee. When it had
passed the city, would it plunge itself to destruction in the
waters of Lake Michigan?

At any rate when it disappeared at a slight bend in the
road no trace was to be found of its passage.

CHAPTER V

ALONG THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND

At the time when the newspapers were filled with these
reports, I was again in Washington. On my return I had
presented myself at my chief's office, but had been unable to
see him. Family affairs had suddenly called him away, to
be absent some weeks. Mr. Ward, however, undoubtedly
knew of the failure of my mission. The newspapers, es-

THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND 175

pecially those of North Carolina, had given full details of
our ascent of the Great Eyrie.

Naturally, I was much annoyed by this delay which fur-
ther fretted my restless curiosity. I could turn to no other
plans for the future. Could I give up the hope of learning
the secret of the Great Eyrie? No! I would return to
the attack a dozen times if necessary, and despite every
failure.

Surely, the winning of access within those walls was not
a task beyond human power. A scaffolding might be raised
to the summit of the cliff; or a tunnel might be pierced
through its depth. Our engineers met problems more dim-
cult every day. But in this case it was necessary to con-
sider the expense, which might easily grow out of propor-
tion to the advantages to be gained. A tunnel would cost
many thousand dollars, and what good would it accomplish
beyond satisfying the public curiosity and my own?

My personal resources were wholly insufficient for the
achievement. Mr. Ward, who held the government's funds,
was away. I even thought of trying to interest some mil-
lionaire. Oh, if I could but have promised one of them
some gold or silver mines within the mountain ! But such
an hypothesis was not admissible. The chain of the Ap-
palachians is not situated in a gold bearing region like that
of the Pacific mountains, the Transvaal, or Australia.

It was not until the fifteenth of June that Mr. Ward re-
turned to duty. Despite my lack of success he received me
warmly. " Here is our poor Strock ! " cried he, at my en-
trance. " Our poor Strock, who has failed ! "

" No more, Mr. Ward, than if you had charged me to
investigate the surface of the moon," answered I. " We
found ourselves face to face with purely natural obstacles
insurmountable with the forces then at our command."

" I do not doubt that, Strock, I do not doubt that in the
least. Nevertheless, the fact remains that you have discov-
ered nothing of what is going on within the Great
Eyrie."

" Nothing, Mr. Ward."

" You saw no sign of fire? "

* None."

" And you heard no suspicious noises whatever ? "

" None."

176 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

" Then it is still uncertain if there is really a volcano
there? "

" Still uncertain, Mr. Ward. But if it is there, we have
good reason to believe that it has sunk into a profound
sleep."

" Still," returned Mr. Ward, " there is nothing to show
that it will not wake up again any day, Strock. It is not
enough that a volcano should sleep, it must be absolutely
extinguished — unless indeed all these threatening rumors
have been born solely in the Carolinian imagination."

" That is not possible, sir," I said. " Both Mr. Smith,
the mayor of Morganton and his friend the mayor of
Pleasant Garden, are reliable men. And they speak from
their own knowledge in this matter. Flames have cer-
tainly risen above the Great Eyrie. Strange noises have
issued from it. There can be no doubt whatever of the
reality of these phenomena."

" Granted," declared Mr. Ward. " I admit that the evi-
dence is unassailable. So the deduction to be drawn is
that the Great Eyrie has not yet given up its secret."

"If we are determined to know it, Mr. Ward, the solu-
tion is only a solution of expense. Pickaxes and dynamite
would soon conquer those walls."

" No doubt," responded the chief, " but such an under-
taking hardly seems justified, since the mountain is now
quiet. We will wait awhile and perhaps nature herself
will disclose her mystery."

" Mr. Ward, believe me that I regret deeply that I have
been unable to solve the problem you entrusted to me," I
said.

" Nonsense ! Do not upset yourself, Strock. Take your
defeat philosophically. We cannot always be successful,
even in the police. How many criminals escape us ! I be-
lieve we should never capture one of them, if they were a
little more intelligent and less imprudent, and if they did
not compromise themselves so stupidly. Nothing, it seems
to me, would be easier than to plan a crime, a theft or an
assassination, and to execute it without arousing any sus-
picions, or leaving any traces to be followed. You under-
stand, Strock, I do not want to give our criminals lessons;
I much prefer to have them remain as they are. Never-
theless there are many whom the police will never be able
to track down."

THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND 177

On this matter I shared absolutely the opinion of my
chief. It is among rascals that one finds the most fools.
For this very reason I had been much surprised that none
of the authorities had been able to throw any light upon
the recent performances of the " demon automobile." And
when Mr. Ward brought up this subject, I did not conceal
from him my astonishment.

He pointed out that the vehicle was practically unpur-
suable; that in its earlier appearances, it had apparently
vanished from all roads even before a telephone message
could be sent ahead. Active and numerous police agents
had been spread throughout the country, but no one of
them had encountered the delinquent. He did not move
continuously from place to place, even at his amazing speed,
but seemed to appear only for a moment and then to vanish
into thin air. True, he had at length remained visible
along the entire route from Prairie-du-Chien to Milwaukee,
and he had covered in less than an hour and a half this
track of two hundred miles.

But since then, there had been no news whatever of the
machine. Arrived at the end of the route, driven onward
by its own impetus, unable to stop, had it indeed been en-
gulfed within the waters of Lake Michigan? Must we
conclude that the machine and its driver had both perished,
that there was no longer any danger to be feared from
either? The great majority of the public refused to ac-
cept this conclusion. They fully expected the machine to
reappear.

Mr. Ward frankly admitted that the whole matter seemed
to him most extraordinary; and I shared his view. As-
suredly if this infernal chauffeur did not return, his appari-
tion would have to be placed among those superhuman mys-
teries which it is not given to man to understand.

We had fully discussed this affair, the chief and I; and I
thought that our interview was at an end, when, after pacing
the room for a few moments, he said abruptly, " Yes, what
happened there at Milwaukee was very strange. But here
is something no less so ! "

With this he handed me a report which he had received
from Boston, on a subject of which the evening papers had
just begun to apprise their readers. While I read it, Mr.
Ward was summoned from the room. I seated myself by

178 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

the window and studied with extreme attention the matter
of the report.

For some days the waters along the coast of Maine,
Connecticut, and Massachusetts had been the scene of an
appearance which no one could exactly describe. A moving
body would appear amid the waters, some two or three
miles off shore, and go through rapid evolutions. It would
flash for a while back and forth among the waves and then
dart out of sight.

The body moved with such lightning speed that the best
telescopes could hardly follow it. Its length did not seem
to exceed thirty feet. Its cigar-shaped form and greenish
color, made it difficult to distinguish against the background
of the ocean. It had been most frequently observed along
the coast between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia. From
Providence, from Boston, from Portsmouth, and from
Portland motor boats and steam launches had repeatedly
attempted to approach this moving body and even to give
it chase. They could not get anywhere near it. Pursuit
seemed useless. It darted like an arrow beyond the range
of view.

Naturally, widely differing opinions were held as to the
nature of this object. But no hypothesis rested on any se-
cure basis. Seamen were as much at a loss as others. At
first sailors thought it must be some great fish, like a whale.
But it is well known that all these animals come to the sur-
face with a certain regularity to breathe, and spout up col-
umns of mingled air and water. Now, this strange animal,
if it was an animal, had never " blown " as the whalers
say; nor, had it ever made any noises of breathing. Yet
if it were not one of these huge marine mammals, how was
this unknown monster to be classed? Did it belong among
the legendary dwellers in the deep, the krakens, the octo-
puses, the leviathans, the famous sea-serpents?

At any rate, since this monster, whatever it was, had ap-
peared along the New England shores, the little fishing-
smacks and pleasure boats dared not venture forth. Wher-
ever it appeared the boats fled to the nearest harbor, as was
but prudent. If the animal was of a ferocious character,
none cared to await its attack.

As to the large ships and coast steamers, they had nothing
to fear from any monster, whale or otherwise. Several of

THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND 179

them had seen this creature at a distance of some miles.
But when they attempted to approach, it fled rapidly away.
One day, even, a fast United States gun boat went out from
Boston, if not to pursue the monster, at least to send after it
a few cannon shot. Almost instantly the animal disap-
peared, and the attempt was vain. As yet, however, the
monster had shown no intention of attacking either boats
or people.

At this moment Mr. Ward returned and I interrupted my
reading to say, " There seems as yet no reason to complain
of this sea-serpent. It flees before big ships. It does not
pursue little ones. Feeling and intelligence are not very
strong in fishes."

"Yet their emotions exist, Strode, and if strongly
aroused "

" But, Mr. Ward, the beast seems not at all dangerous.
One of two things will happen. Either it will presently
quit these coasts, or finally it will be captured and we shall
be able to study it at our leisure here in the museum of
Washington."

"And if it is not a marine animal? " asked Mr. Ward.

" What else can it be? " I protested in surprise.

" Finish your reading," said Mr. Ward.

I did so; and found that in the second part of the report,
my chief had underlined some passages in red pencil.

For some time no one had doubted that this was an ani-
mal; and that, if it were vigorously pursued, it would at
last be driven from our shores. But a change of opinion
had come about. People began to ask if, instead of a fish,
this were not some new and remarkable kind of boat.

Certainly in that case its engine must be one of amazing
power. Perhaps the inventor before selling the secret of
his invention, sought to attract public attention and to as-
tound the maritime world. Such surety in the movements
of his boat, grace in its every evolution, such ease in
defying pursuit by its arrow-like speed, surely, these were
enough to arouse world-wide curiosity!

At that time great progress had been made in the manu-
facture of marine engines. Huge transatlantic steamers
completed the ocean passage in five days. And the engi-
neers had not yet spoken their last word. Neither were the
navies of the world behindhand. The cruisers, the torpedo

180 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

boats, the torpedo-destroyers, could match the swiftest
steamers of the Atlantic and Pacific, or of the Indian trade.

If, however, this were a boat of some new design, there
had as yet been no opportunity to observe its form. As to
the engines which drove it, they must be of a power far be-
yond the fastest known. By what force they worked, was
equally a problem. Since the boat had no sails, it was not
driven by the wind ; and since it had no smoke-stack, it was
not driven by steam.

At this point in the report, I again paused in myreading
and considered the comment I wished to make.

" What are you puzzling over, Strock ? " demanded my
•chief.

" It is this, Mr. Ward; the motive power of this so-called
boat must be as tremendous and as unknown as that of the
remarkable automobile which has so amazed us all."

" So that is your idea, is it, Strock ? "

" Yes, Mr. Ward."

There was but one conclusion to be drawn. If the mys-
terious chauffeur had disappeared, if he had perished with
his machine in Lake Michigan, it was equally important now
to win the secret of this no less mysterious navigator. And
it must be won before he in his turn plunged into the abyss
of the ocean. Was it not the interest of the inventor to
disclose his invention? Would not the American govern-
ment or any other give him any price he chose to ask?

Yet unfortunately, since the inventor of the terrestrial
apparition had persisted in preserving his incognito, was
it not to be feared that the inventor of the marine appari-
tion would , equally preserve his? Even if the first machine
still existed, it was no longer heard from; and would not
the second, in the same way, after having disclosed its pow-
ers, disappear in its turn, without a single trace?

What gave weight to this probability was that since the
arrival of this report at Washington twenty-four hours be-
fore, the presence of the extraordinary boat had nui been
announced from anywhere along the shore. Neither had
it been seen on any other coast. Though, of course, the
assertion that it would not reappear at all, would have been
hazardous, to say the least.

I noted another interesting and possibly important point.
It was a singuhr coincidence which indeed Mr. Ward sug-

THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND 181

gested to me, at the same moment that I was considering it.
This was that only after the disappearance of the wonder-
ful automobile had the no less wonderful boat come into
view. Moreover, their engines both possessed a most dan-
gerous power of locomotion. If both should go rushing
at the same time over the face of the world, the same dan-
ger would threaten mankind everywhere, in boats, in vehi-
cles, and on foot. Therefore it was absolutely necessary
that the police should in some manner interfere to protect
the public ways of travel.

That is what Mr. Ward pointed out to me ; and our duty
was obvious. But how could we accomplish this task?
We discussed the matter for some time; and I was just
about to leave when Mr. Ward made one last suggestion.

" Have you not observed, Strock," said he, " that there
is a sort of fantastic resemblance between the general ap-
pearance of this boat and this automobile? "

" There is something of the sort, Mr. Ward."

" Well, is it not possible that the two are one ? "

CHAPTER VI

THE FIRST LETTER

After leaving Mr. Ward I returned to my home in Long
Street. There I had plenty of time to consider this strange
case uninterrupted by either wife or children. My house-
hold consisted solely of an ancient servant, who having
been formerly in the service of my mother, had now contin-
ued for fifteen years in mine.

Two months before I had obtained a leave of absence.
It had still two weeks to run, unless indeed some unfore-
seen circumstance interrupted it, some mission which could
not be delayed. This leave, as I have shown, had already
been interrupted for four days by my exploration of the
Great Eyrie.

And now was it not my duty to abandon my vacation, and
endeavor to throw light upon the remarkable events of
which the road to Milwaukee and the shore of New Eng-
land had been in turn the scene? I would have given much
to solve the twin mysteries, but how was it possible to fol-
low the track of this automobile or this boat?

182 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Seated in my easy chair after breakfast, with my pipe
lighted, I opened my newspaper. To what should I turn?
Politics interested me but little, with its eternal strife be-
tween the Republicans and the Democrats. Neither did I
care for the news of society, nor for the sporting page.
You will not be surprised, then, that my first idea was to
see if there was any news from North Carolina about the
Great Eyrie. There was little hope of this, however, for
Mr. Smith had promised to telegraph me at once if any-
thing occurred. I felt quite sure that the mayor of Mor--
ganton was as eager for information and as watchful as I
could have been myself. The paper told me nothing new.
It dropped idly from my hand; and I remained deep in
thought.

What most frequently recurred to me was the sugges-
tion of Mr. Ward that perhaps the automobile and the boat
which had attracted our attention were in reality one and
the same. Very probably, at least, the two machines had
been built by the same hand. And beyond doubt, these
were similar engines, which generated this remarkable
speed, more than doubling the previous records of earth
and sea.

" The same inventor ! " repeated I.

Evidently this hypothesis had strong grounds. The fact
that the two machines had not yet appeared at the same time
added weight to the idea. I murmured to myself, " After
the mystery of Great Eyrie, comes that of Milwaukee and
Boston. Will this new problem be as difficult to solve as
was the other? "

I noted idly that this new affair had a general resem-
blance to the other, since both menaced the security of the
.general public. To be sure, only the inhabitants of the
Blueridge region had been in danger from an eruption or
possible earthquake at Great Eyrie. While now, on every
road of the United States, or along every league of its
coasts and harbors, every inhabitant was in danger from
this vehicle or this boat, with its sudden appearance and
insane speed.

I found that, as was to be expected, the newspapers not
only suggested, but enlarged upon the dangers of the case.
Timid people everywhere were much alarmed. My old
servant, naturally credulous and superstitious, was par-

THE FIRST LETTER 183;

ticularly upset. That same day after dinner, as she was
clearing away the things, she stopped before me, a water
bottle in one hand, the serviette in the other, and asked
anxiously, " Is there no news, sir ? "

" None," I answered, knowing well to what she referred.

" The automobile has not come back? "

" No."

"Nor the boat?"

"Nor the boat. There is no news even' in the best in-
formed papers."

" But your secret police information? "

" We are no wiser."

"Then, sir, if you please, of what use are the police?"

It is a question which has phased me more than once.

"Now you see what will happen," continued the old
housekeeper, complainingly, " Some fine morning, he will
come without warning, this terrible chauffeur, and rush
down our street here, and kill us all ! "

" Good! When that happens, there will be some chance
of catching him."

" He will never be arrested, sir."

"Why not?"

" Because he is the devil himself, and you can't arrest
the devil ! "

^ Decidedly, thought I, the devil has many uses; and if he
did not exist we would have to invent him, to give people
some way of explaining the inexplicable. It was he who
lit the flames of the Great Eyrie. It was he who smashed
the record in the Wisconsin race. It is he who is scurrying
along the shores of Connecticut and Massachusetts. But
putting to one side this evil spirit who is so necessary, for
the convenience of the ignorant, there was no doubt that
we were facing a most bewildering problem. Had both
of these machines disappeared forever? They had passed
like a meteor, like a star shooting through space ; and in a
hundred years the adventure would become a legend, much
to the taste of the gossips of the next century.

For several days the newspapers of America and even
those of Europe continued to discuss these events. Edi-
torials crowded upon editorials. Rumors were added to
rumors. Story tellers of every kind crowded to the front.
The public of two continents was interested. In some

184 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

parts of Europe there was even jealousy that America
should have been chosen as the field of such an experience.
If these marvelous inventors were American, then their
country, their army and navy, would have a great advant-
age over others. The United States might acquire an in-
contestable superiority.

Under the date of the tenth of June, a New York paper
published a carefully studied article on this phase of the
subject. Comparing the speed of the swiftest known ves-
sels with the smallest minimum of speed which could pos-
sibly be assigned to the new boat, the article demonstrated
that if the United States secured this secret, Europe would
be but three days away from her, while she would still be
five days from Europe.

If our own police had searched diligently to discover the
mystery of the Great Eyrie, the secret service of every
country in the world was now interested in these new
problems.

Mr. Ward referred to the matter each time I saw him.
Our chat would begin by his rallying me about my ill-suc-
cess in Carolina, and I would respond by reminding him
that success there was only a question of expense.

" Never mind, my good Strock," said he, " there will
come a chance for our clever inspector to regain his laurels.
Take now this affair of the automobile and the boat. If
you could clear that up in advance of all the detectives of
the world, what an honor it would be to our department!
What glory for you!"

" It certainly would, Mr. Ward. And if you put the
matter in my charge "

" Who knows, Strock ? Let us wait a while ! Let us
wait! "

Matters stood thus when, on the morning of June fif-
teenth, my old servant brought me a letter from the letter-
carrier, a registered letter for which I had to sign. I
looked at the address. I did not know the handwriting.
The postmark, dating from two days before, was stamped
at the post office of Morganton.

Morganton! Here at last was, no doubt, news from
Mr. Elias Smith.

" Yes ! " exclaimed I, speaking to my old servant, for lack
of another, " it must be from Mr. Smith at last. I know

THE FIRST LETTER 185

no one else in Morganton. And if he writes he has news ! "

" Morganton ? " said the old woman, " isn't that the place
where the demons set fire to their mountain? "

" Exactly."

" Oh, sir ! I hope you don't mean to go back there ! "

"Why not?"

" Because you will end by being burned up in that furnace
of the Great Eyrie. And I wouldn't want you buried that
way, sir."

" Cheer up, and let us see if it is not better news than
that."

The envelope was sealed with red sealing wax, and
stamped with a sort of coat of arms, surmounted with three
stars. The paper was thick and very strong. I broke
the envelope and drew out a letter. It was a single sheet,
folded in four, and written on one side only. My first
glance was for the signature.

There was no signature ! Nothing but three initials at
the end of the last line !

"The letter is not from the Mayor of Morganton,"
said I.

" Then from whom? " asked the old servant, doubly cur-
ious in her quality as a woman and as an old gossip.

Looking again at the three initials of the signature, I
said, " I know no one for whom these letters would stand ;
neither at Morganton nor elsewhere."

The hand-writing was bold. Both up strokes and down
strokes very sharp, about twenty lines in all. Here is the
letter, of which I, with good reason, retained an exact
copy. It waf dated, to my extreme stupefaction, from that
mysterious Great Eyrie :

"Great Eyrie, Blueridge Mtns,
"To Mr. Strock: North Carolina, June 13th.

Chief Inspector of Police,

34 Long St., Washington, D. C.
" Sir,

" You were charged with the mission of penetrating the
Great Eyrie.

" You came on April the twenty-eighth, accompanied by
the Mayor of Morganton and two guides.

" You mounted to the foot of the wall, and you encircled
it, finding it too high and steep to climb,

fi86 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

" You sought a breech and you found none.

"Know this: none enter the Great Eyrie; or if one en-
ters, he never returns.

" Do not try again, for the second attempt will not re-
sult as did the first, but will have grave consequences for
you.

" Heed this warning, or evil fortune will come to you.

" M. o. W."

CHAPTER VII

A THIRD MACHINE

I CONFESS that at first this letter dumfounded me.
" Ohs ! " and " Ahs ! " slipped from my open mouth. The
old servant stared at me, not knowing what to think.

" Oh, sir! is it bad news? "

I answered — for I kept few secrets from this faithful
soul— by reading her the letter from end to end. She
listened with much anxiety.

" A joke, without doubt," said I, shrugging my shoulders.

" Well," returned my superstitious handmaid, " if it isn't
from the devil, it's from the devil's country, anyway."

Left alone, I again went over this unexpected letter. Re-
flection inclined me yet more strongly to believe that it
was the work of a practical joker. My adventure was well-
known. The newspapers had given it in full detail. Some
satirist, such as exists even in America, must have written
this threatening letter to mock me.

To assume, on the other hand, that the Eyrie really served
as the refuge of a band of criminals, seemed absurd. If
they feared that the police would discover their retreat,
surely they would not have been so foolish as thus to force
attention upon themselves. Their chief security would lie
in keeping their presence there unknown. They must have
realized that such a challenge from them would only arouse
the police to renewed activity. Dynamite or melinite would
soon open an entrance to their fortress. Moreover, how
could these men have, themselves, gained entrance into the
Eyrie — unless there existed a passage which we had failed
to discover? Assuredly the letter came from a jester or
a madman ; and I need not worry over it, nor even consider
it.

A THIRD MACHINE 187

Hence, though for an instant I had thought of showing
this letter to Mr. Ward, I decided not to do so. Surely he
would attach no importance to it. However, I did not de-
stroy it, but locked it in my desk for safe keeping. If more
letters came of the same kind, and with the same initials,
I would attach as little weight to them as to this.

Several days passed quietly. There was nothing to lead
me to expect that I should soon quit Washington; though
in my line of duty one is never certain of the morrow. At
any moment I might be sent speeding from Oregon to
Florida, from Maine to Texas. And — this unpleasant
thought haunted me frequently — if my next mission were
no more successful than that to the Great Eyrie, I might
as well give up and hand in my resignation from the force.
Of the mysterious chauffeur or chauffeurs, nothing more
was heard. I knew that our own government agents, as
well as foreign ones, were keeping keen watch over all the
roads and rivers, all the lakes and the coasts of America.
Of course, the size of the country made any close super-
vision impossible; but these twin inventors had not before
chosen secluded and unfrequented spots in which to ap-
pear. The main highway of Wisconsin on a great race
day, the harbor of Boston, incessantly crossed by thou-
sands of boats, these were hardly what would be called
hiding-places! If the daring driver had not perished — of
which there was always strong probability; then he must
have left America. Perhaps he was in the waters of the
Old World, or else resting in some retreat known only to
himself, and in that case

" Ah ! " I repeated to myself, many times, " for such a
retreat, as secret as inaccessible, this fantastic personage
could not find one better than the Great Eyrie ! " But, of
course, a boat could not get there, any more than an auto-
mobile. Only high-flying birds of prey, eagles or condors,
could find refuge there.

The nineteenth of June I was going to the police bureau,
when, on leaving my house, I noticed two men who looked
at me with a certain keenness. Not knowing them, I took
no notice; and if my attention was drawn to the matter, it
was because my servant spoke of it when I returned.

For some days, she said, she had noticed that two men
seemed to be spying upon me in the street. They stood

i88 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

constantly, perhaps a hundred steps from my house; and
she suspected that they followed me each time I went up the
street.

" You are sure? " I asked.

" Yes, sir and no longer ago than yesterday, when you
came into the house, these men came slipping along in your
footsteps, and then went away as soon as the door was
shut behind you."

" You must be mistaken ? "

" I am not, sir."

"And if you met these two men, you would know
them?"

" I would."

" Good ; " I cried, laughing, " I see you have the very
spirit for a detective. I must engage you as a member of
our force."

" Joke if you like, sir. But I have still two good eyes,
and I don't need spectacles to recognize people. Someone
is spying on you, that's certain; and you should put some
of your men to track them in turn."

"All right; I promise to do so," I said, to satisfy her.
"And when my men get after them, we shall soon know
what these mysterious fellows want of me."

In truth I did not take the good soul's excited announce-
ment very seriously. I added, however, " When I go out,
I will watch the people around me with great care."

" That will be best, sir."

My poor old housekeeper was always frightening her-
self at nothing. " If I see them again," she added, " I will
warn you before you set foot out of doors.

" Agreed ! " And I broke off the conversation, knowing
well that if I allowed her to run on, she would end by being
sure that Beelzebub himself and one of his chief attendants
were at my heels.

The two following days, there was certainly no one spy-
ing on me, either at my exits or entrances. So I concluded
my old servant had made much of nothing, as usual. But
on the morning of the twenty-second of June, after rush-
ing upstairs as rapidly as her age would permit, the de-
voted old soul burst into my room and in a half whisper
gasped " Sir ! Sir ! "

"What is it?"

A THIRD MACHINE 189

"They are there!"

" Who ? " I queried, my mind on anything but the web
she had been spinning about me.

" The two spies ! "

" Ah, those wonderful spies ! "

" Themselves ! — In the street ! — Right in front of our
windows! — Watching the house, waiting for you to go
out."

I went to the window and raising just an edge of the
shade, so as not to give any warning, I saw two men on
the pavement.

They were rather fine-looking men, broad-shouldered and
vigorous, aged somewhat under forty, dressed in the ordi-
nary fashion of the day, with slouched hats, heavy woolen
suits, stout walking shoes and sticks in hand. Undoubtedly,
they were staring persistently at my apparently un watchful
house. Then, having exchanged a few words, they strolled
off a little way, and returned again.

" Are you sure these are the same men you saw before? "

" Yes, sir."

Evidently, I could no longer dismiss her warning as an
hallucination; and I promised myself to clear up the mat-
ter. As to following the men myself, I was presumably
too well known to them. To address them directly would
probably be of no use. But that very day, one of our
best men should be put on watch, and if the spies returned
on the morrow, they should be tracked in their turn, and
watched until their identity was established.

At the moment, they were waiting to follow me to police
headquarters? For it was there that I was bound, as
usual. If they accompanied me I might be able to offer
them a hospitality for which they would scarce thank me.

I took my hat ; and while the housekeeper remained peep-
ing from the window, I went down stairs, opened the door,
and stepped into the street.

The two men were no longer there.

Despite all my watchfulness, that day I saw no more of
them as I passed along the streets. From that time on, in-
deed, neither my old servant nor I saw them again before
the house, nor did I encounter them elsewhere. Their ap-
pearance, however, was stamped upon my memory, I would
not forget them.

190 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Perhaps after all, admitting that I had been the object
of their espionage, they had been mistaken in my identity.
Having obtained a good look at me, they now followed
me no more. So in the end, I came to regard this matter
as of no more importance than the letter with the initials,
M. o. W.

Then, on the twenty-fourth of June, there came a new
event, to further stimulate both my interest and that of
the general public in the previous mysteries of the auto-
mobile and the boat. The Washington Evening Star
published the following account, which was next morning
copied by every paper in the country.

"Lake Kirdall in Kansas, forty miles west of Topeka,
is little known. It deserves wider knowledge, and doubt-
less will have it hereafter, for attention is now drawn to it
in a very remarkable way.

" This lake, deep among the mountains, appears to have
no outlet. What it loses by evaporation, it regains from
the little neighboring streamlets and the heavy rains.

" Lake Kirdall covers about seventy-five square miles,
and its level is but slightly below that of the heights which
surround it. Shut in among the mountains, it can be
reached only by narrow and rocky gorges. Several vil-
lages, however, have sprung up upon its banks. It is full
of fish, and fishing-boats cover its waters.

" Lake Kirdall is in many places fifty feet deep close
to shore. Sharp, pointed rocks form the edges of this
huge basin. Its surges, roused by high winds, beat upon
its banks with fury, and the houses near at hand are often
deluged with spray as if with the downpour of a hurricane.
The lake, already deep at the edge, becomes yet deeper
toward the center, where in some places soundings show
over three hundred feet of water.

" The fishing industry supports a population of several
thousands, and there are several hundred fishing boats in
addition to the dozen or so of little steamers which serve
the traffic of the lake. Beyond the circle of the mountains
lie the railroads which transport the products of the fishing
industry throughout Kansas and the neighboring states.

" This account of Lake Kirdall is necessary for the un-
derstanding of the remarkable facts which we are about
to report."

A THIRD MACHINE 191

And this is what the Evening Star then reported in
its startling article. " For some time past, the fishermen
have noticed a strange upheaval in the waters of the lake.
Sometimes it rises as if a wave surged up from its depths.
Even in perfectly calm weather, when there is no wind
whatever, this upheaval sometimes arises in a mass of
foam.

" Tossed about by violent waves and unaccountable cur-
rents, boats have been swept beyond all control. Some-
times they have been dashed one against another, and ser-
ious damage has resulted.

"This confusion of the waters evidently has its origin
somewhere in the depths of the lake; and various explana-
tions have been offered to account for it. At first, it was
suggested that the trouble was due to seismic forces, to some
volcanic action beneath the lake ; but this hypothesis had to
be rejected when it was recognized that the disturbance was
not confined to one locality, but spread itself over the en-
tire surface of the lake, either at one part or another, in
the center or along the edges, traveling along almost in a
regular line and in a way to exclude entirely all idea of
earthquake or volcanic action.

" Another hypothesis suggested that it was a marine mon-
ster who thus upheaved the waters. But unless the beast
had been born in the lake and had there grown to its gigan-
tic proportions unsuspected, which was scarce possible, he
must have come there from outside. Lake Kirdall, how-
ever, has no connection with any other waters. If this lake
were situated near any of the oceans, there might be subter-
ranean canals; but in the center of America, and at the
height of some thousands of feet above sea-level, this is
not possible. In short, here is another riddle not easy to
solve, and it is much easier to point out the impossibility
of false explanations, than to discover the true one.

" Is it possible that a submarine boat is being experi-
mented with beneath the lake? Such boats are no longer
impossible to-day. Some years ago, at Bridgeport, Con-
necticut, there was launched a boat, The Protector, which
could go on the water, under the water, and also upon land.
Built by an inventor named Lake, supplied with two motors,
an electric one of seventy-five horse power, and a gasoline
one of two hundred and fifty horse power, it was also pro-

ig2 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

vided with wheels a yard in diameter, which enabled it to
roll over the roads, as well as swim the seas.

" But even then, granting that the turmoil of Lake Kird-
all might be produced by a submarine, brought to a high
degree of perfection, there remains as before the question
how could it have reached Lake Kirdall? The lake, shut
in on all sides by a circle of mountains, is no more acces-
sible to a submarine than to a sea-monster.

" In whatever way this last puzzling question may be
solved, the nature of this strange appearance can no longer
be disputed since the twentieth of June. On that day, in
the afternoon, the schooner Market while speeding with
all sails set, came into violent collision with something just
below the water level. There was no shoal nor rock near;
for the lake in this part is eighty or ninety feet deep. The
schooner with both her bow and her side badly broken, ran
great danger of sinking. She managed, however, to reach
the shore before her decks were completely submerged.

" When the Markel had been pumped out and hauled up
on shore, an examination showed that she had received a
blow near the bow as if from a powerful ram.

" From this it seems evident that there is actually a sub-
marine boat which darts about beneath the surface of Lake
Kirdall with most remarkable rapidity.

" The thing is difficult to explain. Not only is there a
question as to how did the submarine get there? But why
is it there? Why does it never come to the surface?
What reason has its owner for remaining unknown? Are
other disasters to be expected from its reckless course?"

The article in the Evening Star closed with this truly
striking suggestion: "After the mysterious automobile,
came the mysterious boat. Now comes the mysterious
submarine.

" Must we conclude that the three engines are due to the
genius of the same inventor, and that the three vehicles
are in truth but one? "

CHAPTER VIII

AT ANY COST

The suggestion of the Star came like a revelation.
It was accepted everywhere. Not only were these three
vehicles the work of the same inventor; they were the same
machine !

It was not easy to see how the remarkable transforma-
tion could be practically accomplished from one means of
locomotion to the other. How could an automobile be-
come a boat, and yet more, a submarine ? All the machine
seemed to lack was the power of flying through the air.
Nevertheless, everything that was known of the three dif-
ferent machines, as to their size, their shape, their lack of
odor or of steam, and above all their remarkable speed,
seemed to imply their identity. The public, grown blase
with so many excitements, found in this new marvel a
stimulus to reawaken their curiosity.

The newspapers dwelt now chiefly on the importance of
the invention. This new engine, whether in one vehicle
or three, had given proofs of its power. What amazing
proofs ! The invention must be bought at any price. The
United States government must purchase it at once for
the use of the nation. Assuredly, the great European
powers would stop at nothing to be beforehand with
America, and gain possession of an engine so invaluable
for military and naval use. What incalculable advantages
would it give to any nation, both on land and sea ! Its de-
structive powers could not even be estimated, until its quali-
ties and limitations were better known. No amount of
money would be too great to pay for the secret; America
could not put her millions to better use.

But to buy the machine, it was necessary to find the in-
ventor; and there seemed the chief difficulty. In vain was
Lake Kirdall searched from end to end. Even its depths
were explored with a sounding-line without result. Must
it be concluded that the submarine no longer lurked be-
neath its waters? But in that case, how had the boat got-
ten away? For that matter, how had it come? An in-
soluble problem!

The submarine was heard from no more, neither in Lake
Kirdall nor elsewhere. It had disappeared like the auto-
mobile from the roads, and like the boat from the shores

V. XIV Verne 193

194 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

of America. Several times in my interviews with Mr.
Ward, we discussed this matter, which still filled his mind.
Our men continued everywhere on the lookout, but as un-
successfully as other agents.

On the morning of the twenty-seventh of June, I was
summoned into the presence of Mr. Ward.

" Well, Strode," said he, " here is a splendid chance for
you to get your revenge."

"Revenge for the Great Eyrie disappointment?"

" Of course."

"What chance? " asked I, not knowing if he spoke ser-
iously, or in jest.

" Why, here," he answered. " Would not you like to
discover the inventor of this three- fold machine? "

" I certainly should, Mr. Ward. Give me the order to
take charge of the matter, and I will accomplish the im-
possible, in order to succeed. It is true, I believe it will
be difficult."

" Undoubtedly, Strock. Perhaps even more difficult
than to penetrate into the Great Eyrie."

It was evident that Mr. Ward was intent on rallying me
about my unsuccess. He would not do that, I felt assured,
out of mere unkindness. Perhaps then he meant to rouse
my resolution. He knew me well; and realized that I
would have given anything in the world to recoup my de-
feat I waited quietly for new instructions.

Mr. Ward dropped his jesting and said to me very gen-
erously, "I know, Strock, that you accomplished every-
thing that depended on human powers; and that no blame
attaches to you. But we face now a matter very different
from that of the Great Eyrie. The day the government
decides to force that secret, everything is ready. We have
only to spend some thousands of dollars, and the road will
be open."

" That is what I would urge."

" But at present," said Mr. Ward, shaking his head, " it
is much more important to place our hands on this fantastic
inventor, who so constantly escapes us. That is work for
a detective, indeed ; a master detective ! "

" He has not been heard from again? "

" No ; and though there is every reason to believe that
he has been, and still continues, beneath the waters of Lake

AT ANY COST 195

Kirdall, it has been impossible to find any trace of him any-
where around there. One would almost fancy he had the
power of making himself invisible, this Proteus of a me-
chanic ! "

"It seems likely," said I, "that he will never be seen
until he wishes to be."

" True, Strock. And to my mind there is only one way
of dealing with him, and that is to offer him such an enor-
mous price that he cannot refuse to sell his invention."

Mr. Ward was right. Indeed, the government had al-
ready made the effort to secure speech with this hero of
the day, than whom surely no human being has ever better
merited the title. The press had widely spread the news,
and this extraordinary individual must assuredly know
what the government desired of him, and how completely
he could name the terms he wished.

" Surely," added Mr. Ward, " this invention can be of
no personal use to the man, that he should hide it from the
rest of us. There is every reason why he should sell it.
Can this unknown be already some dangerous criminal who,
thanks to his machine, hopes to defy all pursuit? "

My chief then went on to explain that it had been decided
to employ other means in search of the inventor. It was
possible after all that he had perished with his machine
in some dangerous maneuver. If so, the ruined vehicle
might prove almost as valuable and instructive to the me-
chanical world as the man himself. But since the accident
to the schooner Market on Lake Kirdall, no news of him
whatever had reached the police.

On this point Mr. Ward did not attempt to hide his dis-
appointment and his anxiety. Anxiety, yes, for it was
manifestly becoming more and more difficult for him to
fulfill his duty of protecting the public. How could we
arrest criminals, if they could flee from justice at such
speed over both land and sea? How could we pursue them
under the oceans? And when dirigible balloons should
also have reached their full perfection, we would even have
to chase men through the air! I asked myself if my
colleagues and I would not find ourselves some day reduced
to utter helplessness? If police officials, become a useless
incumbrance, would be definitely discarded by society?

Here, there recurred to me the jesting letter I had re-

196 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

ceived a fortnight before, the letter which threatened my
liberty and even my life. I recalled, also, the singular
espionage of which I had been the subject. I asked my-
self if I had better mention these things to Mr. Ward.
But they seemed to have absolutely no relation to the mat-
ter now in hand. The Great Eyrie affair had been defi-
nitely put aside by the government, since an eruption was
no longer threatening. And they now wished to employ
me upon this newer matter. I waited, then, to mention
this letter to my chief at some future time, when it would
be not so sore a joke to me.

Mr. Ward again took up our conversation. "We are
resolved by some means to establish communication with
this inventor. He has disappeared, it is true; but he may
reappear at any moment, and in any part of the country.
I have chosen you, Strock, to follow him the instant he
appears. You must hold yourself ready to leave Washing-
ton on the moment. Do not quit your house, except to
come here to headquarters each day; notify me, each time
by telephone, when you start from home, and report to me
personally the moment you arrive here."

" I will follow orders exactly, Mr. Ward," I answered.
" But permit me one question. Ought I to act alone, or
will it not be better to join with me ? "

" That is what I intend," said the chief, interrupting me.
" You are to choose two of our men whom you think the
best fitted."

" I will do so, Mr. Ward. And now, if some day or
other I stand in the presence of our man, what am I to do
with him? "

" Above all things, do not lose sight of him. If there is
no other way, arrest him. You shall have a warrant."

" A useful precaution, Mr. Ward. If he started to jump
into his automobile and to speed away at the rate we know
of, I must stop him at any cost. One cannot argue long
with a man making two hundred miles an hour ! "

" You must prevent that, Strock. And the arrest made,
telegraph me. After that, the matter will be in my hands."

" Count on me, Mr. Ward ; at any hour, day or night,
I shall be ready to start with my men. I thank you for
having entrusted this mission to me. If it succeeds, it will
be a great honor "

AT ANY COST 197

" And of great- profit," added my chief, dismissing me.

Returning home, I made all preparations for a trip of
indefinite duration. Perhaps my good housekeeper
imagined that I planned a return to the Great Eyrie, which
she regarded as an ante-chamber of hell itself. She said
nothing, but went about her work with a most despairing
face. Nevertheless, sure as I was of her discretion, I told
her nothing. In this great mission I would confide in no
one.

My choice of the two men to accompany me was easily
made. They both belonged to my own department, and
had many times under my direct command given proofs of
their vigor, courage and intelligence. One, John Hart,
of Illinois, was a man of thirty years; the other, aged
thirty-two, was Nab Walker, of Massachusetts. I could
not have had better assistants.

Several days passed, without news, either of the auto-
mobile, the boat, or the submarine. There were rumors
in plenty; but the police knew them to be false. As to
the reckless stories that appeared in the newspapers, they
had most of them, no foundation whatever. Even the best
journals cannot be trusted to refuse an exciting bit of news
on the mere ground of its unreliability.

Then, twice in quick succession, there came what seemed
trustworthy reports of the " man of the hour." The first
asserted that he had been seen on the roads of Arkansas,
near Little Rock. The second, that he was in the very
middle of Lake Superior.

Unfortunately, these two notices were absolutely unre-
concilable; for while the first gave the afternoon of June
twenty-sixth, as the time of appearance, the second set it
for the evening of the same day. Now, these two points of
the United States territory are not less than eight hundred
miles apart. Even granting the automobile this unthink-
able speed, greater than any it had yet shown, how could it
have crossed all the intervening country unseen? How
could it traverse the States of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa
and Wisconsin, from end to end without anyone of our
agents giving us warning, without any interested person
rushing to a telephone?

After these two momentary appearances, if appearances
they were, the machine again dropped out of knowledge.

198 THE MASTER OF THE .WORLD

Mr. Ward did not think it worth while to dispatch me and
my men to either point whence it had been reported.

Yet since this marvelous machine seemed still in ex-
istence, something must be done. The following official
notice was published in every newspaper of the United
States under July 3d. It was couched in the most formal
terms.

" During the month of April, of the present year, an
automobile traversed the roads of Pennsylvania, of Ken-
tucky, of Ohio, of Tennessee, of Missouri, of Illinois; and,
on the twenty-seventh of May, during the race held by the
American Automobile Club, it covered the course in Wis-
consin. Then it disappeared.

" During the first week of June, a boat maneuvering at
great speed appeared off the coast of New England be-
tween Cape Cod and Cape Sable, and more particularly
around Boston. Then it disappeared.

" In the second fortnight of the same month, a sub-
marine boat was run beneath the waters of Lake Kirdall,
in Kansas. Then it disappeared.

" Everything points to the belief that the same inventor
must have built these three machines, or perhaps that they
are the same machine, constructed so as to travel both on
land and water.

" A proposition is therefore addressed to the said inven-
tor, whoever he be, with the aim of acquiring the said ma-
chine.

" He is requested to make himself known and to name
the terms upon which he will treat with the United States
government. He is also requested to answer as promptly
as possible to the Department of Federal Police, Washing-
ton, D. C, United States of America."

Such was the notice printed in large type on the front
page of every newspaper. Surely it could not fail to reach
the eye of him for whom it was intended, wherever
he might be. He would read it. He could scarce fail
to answer it in some manner. And why should he
refuse such an unlimited offer? We had only to await
his reply.

One can easily imagine how high the public curiosity
rose. From morning till night, an eager and noisy crowd
pressed about the bureau of police, awaiting the arrival of

AT ANY COST 199

a letter or a telegram. The best reporters were on the
spot. What honor, what profit would come to the paper
which was first to publish the famous news ! To know at
last the name and place of the undiscoverable unknown!
And to know if he would agree to some bargain with the
government! It goes without saying that America does
things on a magnificent scale. Millions would not be lack-
ing for the inventor. If necessary all the millionaires in
the country would open their inexhaustible purses !

The day passed. To how many excited and impatient
people it seemed to contain more than twenty- four hours!
And each hour held far more than sixty minutes! There
came no answer, no letter, no telegram! The night fol-
lowing, there was still no news. And it was the same the
next day — and the next.

There came, however another result, which had been
fully foreseen. The cables informed Europe of what the
United States government had done. The different
Powers of the Old World hoped also to obtain possession
of the wonderful invention. Why should they not struggle
for an advantage so tremendous? Why should they not
enter the contest with their millions?

In brief, every great Power took part in the affair,
France, England, Russia, Italy, Austria, Germany. Only
the states of the second order refrained from entering,
with their smaller resources, upon a useless effort. The
European press published notices identical with that of
the United States. The extraordinary "chauffeur" had
only to speak, to become a rival to the Vanderbilts, the
Astors, the Goulds, the Morgans, and the Rothschilds of
every country of Europe.

And, when the mysterious inventor made no sign, what
attractive offers were held forth to tempt him to discard
the secrecy in which he was enwrapped ! The whole world
became a public market, an auction house whence arose
the most amazing bids. Twice a day the newspapers
would add up the amounts, and these kept rising from mil-
lions to millions. The end came when the United States
Congress, after a memorable session, voted to offer the sum
of twenty million dollars. And there was not a citizen of
the States of whatever rank, who objected to the amount,
so much importance was attached to the possession of this

200 THE MASTER OF THE .WORLD

prodigious engine of locomotion. As for me, I said em-
phatically to my old housekeeper : " The machine is worth
even more than that."

Evidently the other nations of the world did not think
so, for their bids remained below the final sum. But how
useless was this mighty struggle of the great rivals! The
inventor did not appear ! He did not exist ! He had never
existed ! It was all a monstrous pretense of the American
newspapers. That, at least, became the announced view
of the Old World.

And so the time passed. There was no further news
of our man, there was no response from him. He ap-
peared no more. For my part, not knowing what to think,
I commenced to lose all hope of reaching any solution to
the strange affair.

Then on the morning of the fifteenth of July, a letter
without postmark was found in the mailbox of the police
bureau. After the authorities had studied it, it was given
out to the Washington journals, which published it in fac-
simile, in special numbers. It was couched as follows :

CHAPTER IX

THE SECOND LETTER

" On Board the ' Terror'

"July 15-
"To the Old and New World,

" The propositions emanating from the different govern-
ments of Europe, as also that which has finally been made
by the United States of America, need expect no other an-
swer than this:

" I refuse absolutely and definitely the sums offered for
my invention.

" My machine will be neither French nor German, nor
Austrian nor Russian, nor English nor American.

" The invention will remain my own, and I shall use
it as pleases me.

" With it, I hold control of the entire world, and there
lies no force within the reach of humanity which is able to
resist me, under any circumstances whatsoever.

" Let no one attempt to seize or stop me. It is, and will

THE SECOND LETTER 201

be, utterly impossible. Whatever injury anyone attempts
against me, I will return a hundredfold.

" As to the money which is offered me, I depise it ! I
have no need of it. Moreover, on the day when it pleases
me to have millions, or billions, I have but to reach out my
hand and take them.

" Let both the Old and the New World realize this : They
can accomplish nothing against me ; I can accomplish any-
thing against them.

" So I sign this letter:

" The Master of the World."

CHAPTER X

OUTSIDE THE LAW

SUCH was the letter addressed to the government of the
United States. As to the person who had placed it in the
mail-box of the police, no one had seen him.

The sidewalk in front of our offices had probably not
been once vacant during the entire night. From sunset to
sunrise, there had always been people, busy, anxious, or
curious, passing before our door. It is true, however, that
even then, the Dearer of the letter might easily have slipped
by unseen and dropped the letter in the box. The night
had been so dark, you could scarcely see from one side of
the street to the other.

I have said that this letter appeared in facsimile in all
the newspapers to which the government communicated it.
Perhaps one would naturally imagine that the first comment
of the public would be, " This is the work of some practical
joker." It was in that way that I had accepted my letter
from the Great Eyrie, five weeks before.

But this was not the general attitude toward the present
letter, neither in Washington, nor in the rest of America.
To the few who would have maintained that the document
should not be taken seriously, an immense majority would
have responded. " This letter has not the style nor the
spirit of a jester. Only one man could have written it;
and that is the inventor of this unapproachable machine."

To most people this conclusion seemed indisputable
owing to a curious state of mind easily explainable. For

202 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

all tHe strange facts of which the key had hitherto been
lacking, this letter furnished an explanation. The theory
now almost universally accepted was as follows. The in-
ventor had hidden himself for a time, only in order to re-
appear more startlingly in some new light. Instead of
having perished in an accident, he had concealed himself in
some retreat where the police were unable to discover him.
Then to assert positively his attitude toward all govern-
ments he had written this letter. But instead of dropping
it in the post in any one locality, which might have resulted
in its being traced to him, he had come to Washington and
deposited it himself in the very spot suggested by the
government's official notice, the bureau of police.

Well! If this remarkable personage had reckoned that
this new proof of his existence would make some noise in
two worlds, he certainly figured rightly. That day, the
millions of good folk who read and re-read their daily
paper could — to employ a well-known phrase, scarcely be-
lieve their eyes.

As for myself, I studied carefully every phrase of the de-
fiant document. The hand-writing was black and heavy.
An expert at chirography would doubtless have distin-
guished in the lines traces of a violent temperament, of a
character stern and unsocial. Suddenly, a cry escaped me
— a cry that fortunately my housekeeper did not hear.
Why had I not noticed sooner the resemblance of the hand-
writing to that of the letter I had received from Morgan-
ton?

Moreover, a yet more significant coincidence, the initials
with which my letter had been signed, did they not stand
for the words " Master of the World? "

And whence came the second letter? "On Board the
Terror." Doubtless this name was that of the triple ma-
chine commanded by the mysterious captain. The initials
in my letter were his own signature; and it was he who
had threatened me, if I dared to renew my attempt on the
Great Eyrie.

I rose and took from my desk the letter of June thir-
teenth. I compared it with the facsimile in the news-
papers. There was no doubt about it. They were both
in the same peculiar hand-writing.

My mind worked eagerly. I sought to trace the prob-

OUTSIDE THE LAW 203

able deductions from this striking fact, known only to my-
self. The man who had threatened me was the commander
of this " Terror " — startling name, only too well justified !
I asked myself if our search could not now be prosecuted
under less vague conditions. Could we not now start our
men upon a trail which would lead definitely to success?
In short, what relation existed between the " Terror " and
the Great Eyrie? What connection was there between the
phenomena of the Blueridge Mountains, and the no less
phenomenal performances of the fantastic machine?

I knew what my first step should be; and with the letter
in my pocket, I hastened to police headquarters. Inquir-
ing if Mr. Ward was within and receiving an affirmative re-
ply, I hastened toward his door, and rapped upon it with
unusual and perhaps unnecessary vigor. Upon his call to
enter, I stepped eagerly into the room.

The chief had spread before him the letter published
in the papers, not a facsimile, but the original itself
which had been deposited in the letter-box of the
department.

"You come as if you had important news, Strock?"

"Judge for yourself, Mr. Ward;" and I drew from my
pocket the letter with the initials.

Mr. Ward took it, glanced at its face, and asked, " What
is this?"

" A letter signed only with initials, as you can see."

" And where was it posted ? "

" In Morganton, in North Carolina."

"When did you receive it?"

" A month ago, the thirteenth of June."

"What did you think of it then?"

" That it had been written as a joke."

" And — now — Strock? "

" I think, what you will think, Mr. Ward, after you have
studied it."

My chief turned to the letter again and read it carefully.
" It is signed with three initials," said he.

" Yes, Mr. Ward, and those initials belong to the words,
* Master of the World,' in this facsimile."

" Of which this is the original," responded Mr. Ward,
taking it up.

204 THE MASTER 0E THE WORLD

" It is quite evident," I urged, " that the two letters are
by the same hand."

" It seems so."

" You see what threats are made against me, to protect
the Great Eyrie."

"Yes, the threat of death! But Strock, you have had
this letter for a month. Why have you not shown it to
me before ? "

" Because I attached no importance to it. To-day, after
the letter from the ' Terror,' it must be taken seriously."

" I agree with you. It appears to me most important.
I even hope it may prove the means of tracking this strange
personage."

" That is what I also hope, Mr. Ward."

" Only — what connection can possibly exist between the
' Terror ' and the Great Eyrie? "

" That I do not know. I cannot even imagine "

" There can be but one explanation," continued Mr.
Ward, " though it is almost inadmissible, even impos-
sible."

"And that is?"

" That the Great Eyrie was the spot selected by the in-
ventor, where he gathered his material."

" That is impossible ! " cried I. " In what way would he
get his maierial in there? And how get his machine out?
After what I have seen, Mr. Ward, your suggestion is im-
possible."

" Unless, Strock "

"Unless what?" I demanded.

" Unless the machine of this Master of the World has
also wings, which permit, it to take refuge in the Great
Eyrie."

At the suggestion that the " Terror," which had searched
the deeps of the sea, might be capable also of rivaling the
vultures and the eagles, I could not restrain an expressive
shrug of incredulity. Neither did Mr. Ward himself
dwell upon the extravagant hypothesis.

He took the two letters and compared them afresh. He
examined them under a microscope, especially the signa-
tures, and established their perfect identity. Not only the
same hand, but the same pen had written them.

After some moments of further reflection, Mr. Ward

OUTSIDE THE LAW 205

said, " I will keep your letter, Strock. Decidedly, I think,
that you are fated t© play an important part in this strange
affair — or rather in these two affairs. What thread at-
taches them, I cannot yet see; but I am sure the thread
exists. You have been connected with the first, and it will
not be surprising if you have a large part in the second."

" I hope so, Mr. Ward. You know how inquisitive I
am."

"I do, Strock. That is understood. Now, I can only
repeat my former order ; hold yourself in readiness to leave
Washington at a moment's warning."

All that day, the public excitement caused by the defiant
letter mounted steadily higher. It was felt both at the
White House and at the Capitol that public opinion ab-
solutely demanded some action. Of course, it was difficult
to do anything. Where could one find this Master of the
World? And even if he were discovered, how could he
be captured? He had at his disposal not only the powers
he had displayed, but apparently still greater resources as
yet unknown. How had he been able to reach Lake Kird-
all over the rocks ; and how had he escaped from it ? Then,
if he had indeed appeared on Lake Superior, how had he
covered all the intervening territory unseen ?

What a bewildering affair it was altogether! This, of
course, made it all the more important to get to the bottom
of it. Since the millions of dollars had been refused, force
must be employed. The inventor and his invention were
not to be bought. And in what haughty and menacing
terms he had couched his refusal ! So be it ! He must be
treated as an enemy of society, against whom all means
became justified, that he might be deprived of his power
to injure others. The idea that he had perished was now
entirely discarded. He was alive, very much alive; and
his existence constituted a perpetual public danger !

Influenced by these ideas, the government issued the fol-
lowing proclamation :

"Since the commander of the ' Terror ' has refused to
make public his invention, at any price whatever, since the
use which he makes of his machine constitutes a public
menace, against which it is impossible to guard, the said
commander of the ' Terror ' is hereby placed beyond the
protection of the law. Any measures taken in the effort to

206 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

capture or destroy either him or his machine will be ap-
proved and rewarded."

It was a declaration of war, war to the death against this
" Master of the World " who thought to threaten and defy
an entire nation, the American nation !

Before the day was over, various rewards of large
amounts were promised to anyone who revealed the hiding
place of this dangerous inventor, to anyone who could
identify him, and to anyone who should rid the country of
him.

Such was the situation during the last fortnight of July.
All was left to the hazard of fortune. The moment the
outlaw re-appeared he would be seen and signaled, and
when the chance came he would be arrested. This could
not be accomplished when he was in his automobile on land
or in his boat on the water. No; he must be seized sud-
denly, before he had any opportunity to escape by means
of that speed which no other machine could equal.

I was therefore all alert, awaiting an order from Mr.
Ward to start out with my men. But the order did not
arrive for the very good reason that the man whom it con-
cerned remained undiscovered. The end of July ap-
proached. The newspapers continued the excitement.
They published repeated rumors. New clues were con-
stantly being announced. But all this was mere idle talk.
Telegrams reached the police bureau from every part of
America, each contradicting and nullifying the others. The
enormous rewards offered could not help but lead to ac-
cusations, errors, and blunders, made, many of them, in
good faith. One time it would be a cloud of dust, which
must have contained the automobile. At another time,
almost any wave on any of America's thousand lakes rep-
resented the submarine. In truth, in the excited state of
the public imagination, apparitions assailed us from every
side.

At last, on the twenty-ninth of July, I received a tele-
phone message to come to Mr. Ward on the instant.
Twenty minutes later I was in his cabinet.

" You leave in an hour, Strock," said he.

"Where for?"

"For Toledo."

"It has been seen?"

OUTSIDE THE LAW 207

' Yes. At Toledo you will get your final orders."

' In an hour, my men and I will be on the way."

' Good! And, Strock, I now give you a formal order."

' What is it, Mr. Ward?"

f To succeed — this time to succeed ! "

CHAPTER XI

THE CAMPAIGN

So the undiscoverable commander had reappeared upon
the territory of the United States! He had never shown
himself in Europe either on the roads or in the seas. He
had not crossed the Atlantic, which apparently he could
have traversed in three days. Did he then intend to make
only America the scene of his exploits? Ought we to con-
clude from this that he was an American ?

Let me insist upon this point. It seemed clear that the
submarine might easily have crossed the vast sea which
separates the New and the Old World. Not only would
its amazing speed have made its voyage short, in compari-
son to that of the swiftest steamship, but also it would have
escaped all the storms that make the voyage dangerous.
Tempests did not exist for it. It had but to abandon the
surface of the waves, and it could find absolute calm a few
score feet beneath.

But the inventor had not crossed the Atlantic, and if he
were to be captured now, it would probably be in Ohio, since
Toledo is a city of that state.

This time the fact of the machine's appearance had been
kept secret, between the police and the agent who had
warned them, and whom I was hurrying to meet. No
journal — and many would have paid high for the chance —
was printing this news. We had decided that nothing
should be revealed until our effort was at an end. No in-
discretion would be committed by either my comrades or
myself.

The man to whom I was sent with an order from Mr.
Ward was named Arthur Wells. He awaited us at
Toledo. The city of Toledo stands at the western end of
Lake Erie. Our train sped during the night across West
Virginia and Ohio. There was no delay; and before noon

208 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

the next day the locomotive stopped in the Toledo depot.

John Hart, Nab Walker and I stepped out with traveling
bags in our hands, and revolvers in our pockets. Perhaps
we should need weapons for an attack, or even to defend
ourselves. Scarcely had I stepped from the train when I
picked out the man who awaited us. He was scanning the
arriving passengers impatiently, evidently as eager and full
of haste as I.

I approached him. "Mr. Weils?" said I.

"Mr. Strock?" asked he.

" Yes."

" I am at your command," said Mr. Wells.

" Are we to stop any time in Toledo? " I asked.

"No; with your permission, Mr. Strock. A carriage
with two good horses is waiting outside the station ; and we
must leave at once to reach our destination as soon as pos-
sible."

" We will go at once," I answered, signing to my two
men to follow us. " Is it far? "

" Twenty miles."

"And the place is called?"

" Black Rock Creek."

Having left our bags at a hotel, we started on our drive.
Much to my surprise I found there were provisions suffi-
cient for several days packed beneath the seat of the car-
riage. Mr. Wells told me that the region around Black
Rock Creek was among the wildest in the state. There
was nothing there to attract either farmers or fishermen.
We would find not an inn for our meals nor a room in
which to sleep. Fortunately, during the July heat there
would be no hardship even if we had to lie one or two
nights under the stars.

More probably, however, if we were successful, the mat-
ter would not occupy us many hours. Either the com-
mander of the " Terror " would be surprised before he had
a chance to escape, or he would take to flight and we must
give up all hope of arresting him.

I found Arthur Wells to be a man of about forty, large
and powerful. I knew him by reputation to be one of the
best of our local police agents. Cool in danger and enter-
prising always, he had proven his daring on more than one
occasion at the peril of his life. He had been in Toledo on

THE CAMPAIGN 209

a wholly different mission, when chance had thrown him
on the track of the " Terror."

We drove rapidly along the shore of Lake Erie, toward
the southwest. This inland sea of water is on the northern
boundary of the United States, lying between Canada on one
side and the States of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York
on the other. If I stop to mention the geographical posi-
tion of this lake, its depth, its extent, and the waters nearest
around, it is because the knowledge is necessary for the
understanding of the events which were about to happen.

The surface of Lake Erie covers about ten thousand
square miles. It is nearly six hundred feet above sea level.
It is joined on the northwest, by means of the Detroit River,
with the still greater lakes to the westward, and receives
their waters. It has also rivers of its own though of less
importance, such as the Rocky, the Cuyahoga, and the
Black. The lake empties at its northeastern end into Lake
Ontario by means of Niagara River and its celebrated falls.

The greatest known depth of Lake Erie is over one hun-
dred and thirty feet. Hence it will be seen that the mass
of its waters is considerable. In short, this is a region of
most magnificent lakes. The land, though not situated far
northward, is exposed to the full sweep of the Arctic cold.
The region to the northward is low, and the winds of win-
ter rush down with extreme violence. Hence Lake Erie
is sometimes frozen over from shore to shore.

The principal cities on the borders of this great lake are
Buffalo at the east, which belongs to New York State, and
Toledo in Ohio, at the west, with Cleveland and Sandusky,
both Ohio cities, at the south. Smaller towns and villages
are numerous along the shore. The traffic is naturally
large, its annual value being estimated at considerably over
two million dollars.

Our carriage followed a rough and little used road along
the borders of the lake; and as we toiled along, Arthur
iWells told me, what he had learned.

Less than two days before, on the afternoon of July
twenty-seventh, Wells had been riding on horseback toward
the town of Herly. Five miles outside the town, he was
riding through a little wood, when he saw, far up across
the lake, a submarine which rose suddenly above the waves.
He stopped, tied his horse, and stole on foot to the edge of

V. XIV Verne

2io THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

the lake. There, from behind a tree he had seen — with his
own eyes seen — this submarine advance toward him, and
stop at the mouth of Black Rock Creek. Was it the famous
machine for which the whole world was seeking, which
thus came directly to his feet ?

When the submarine was close to the rocks, two men
climbed out upon its deck and stepped ashore. Was one of
them this Master of the World, who had not been seen since
he was reported from Lake Superior? Was this the
mysterious " Terror " which had thus risen from the depths
of Lake Erie?

" I was alone," said Wells. " Alone on the edge of the
Creek. If you and your assistants, Mr. Strock had been
there, we four against two, we would have been able to
reach these men and seize them before they could have re-
gained their boat and fled."

" Probably," I answered. " But were there no others
on the boat with them? Still, if we had seized the two,
we could at least have learned who they were."

" And above all," added Wells, " if one of them turned
out to be the captain of the Terror! "

" I have only one fear, Wells ; this submarine, whether it
is the one we seek or another, may have left the creek since
your departure."

" We shall know about that in a few hours, now. Prayj
Heaven they are still there ! Then when night comes "

" But," I asked, " did you remain watching in the wood
until night? "

" No; I left after an hour's watching, and rode straight
for the telegraph station at Toledo. I reached there late
at night and sent immediate word to Washington."

" That was night before last. Did you return yesterday
to Black Rock Creek?"

"Yes."

" The submarine was still there ? "

" In the same spot."

"And the two men?"

" The same two men. I judge that some accident had
happened, and they came to this lonely spot to repair it."

" Probably so," said I. " Some damage which made it
impossible for them to regain their usual hiding-place. If
only they are still here ! "

THE CAMPAIGN 211

" I have reason to believe they will be, for quite a lot of
stuff was taken out of the boat, and laid about upon the
shore; and as well as I could discern from a distance they
seemed to be working on board."

" Only the two men? "

" Only the two."

" But," protested I, " can two be sufficient to handle an
apparatus of such speed, and of such intricacy, as to be at
once automobile, boat and submarine?"

" I think not, Mr. Strock ; but I only saw the same two.
Several times they came to the edge of the little wood
where I was hidden, and gathered sticks for a fire which
they made upon the beach. The region is so uninhabited
and the creek so hidden from the lake that they ran little
danger of discovery. They seemed to know this."

" You would recognize them both again? "

" Perfectly. One was of middle size, vigorous, and
quick of movement, heavily bearded. The other was
smaller, but stocky and strong. Yesterday, as before, I
left the wood about five o'clock and hurried back to Toledo.
There I found a telegram from Mr. Ward, notifying me of
your coming; and I awaited you at the station."

Summed up, then, the news amounted to this : For forty
hours past a submarine, presumably the one we sought, had
been hidden in Black Rock Creek, engaged in repairs.
Probably these were absolutely necessary, and we should
find the boat still there. As to how the " Terror " came to
be in Lake Erie, Arthur Wells and I discussed that, and
agreed that it was a very probable place for her. The last
time she had been seen was on Lake Superior. From there
to Lake Erie the machine could have come by the roads of
Michigan, but since no one had remarked its passage and as
both the police and the people were specially aroused and
active in that portion of the country, it seemed more prob-
able, that the Terror had come by water. There was a
clear route through the chain of the Great Lakes and their
rivers, by which in her character of a submarine she could
easily proceed undiscovered.

And now, if the Terror had already left the creek, or if
she escaped when we attempted to seize her, in what di-
rection would she turn ? In any case, there was little chance
of following her. There were two torpedo-destroyers at

212 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

the port of Buffalo, at the other extremity of Lake Erie.*
Before I left Washington Mr. Ward had informed me of
their presence; and a telegram to their commanders would,
if there were need, start them in pursuit of the Terror.
But despite their splendid speed, how could they vie with
her! And if she plunged beneath the waters, they would
be helpless. Moreover Arthur Wells averred that in case
of a battle, the advantage would not be with the destroyers,
despite their large crews, and many guns. Hence, if we did
not succeed this night, the campaign would end in failure.

Arthur Wells knew Black Rock Creek thoroughly, having
hunted there more than once. It was bordered in most
places with sharp rocks against which the waters of the
lake beat heavily. Its channel was some thirty feet deep,
so that the Terror could take shelter either upon the sur-
face or under water. In two or three places the steep
banks gave way to sand beaches which led to little gorges
reaching up toward the woods, two or three hundred feet.

It was seven in the evening when our carriage reached
these woods. There was still daylight enough for us to
see easily, even in the shade of the trees. To have crossed
openly to the edge of the creek would have exposed us to
the view of the men of the Terror, if she were still there,
and thus give her warning to escape.

" Had we better stop here? " I asked Wells, as our rig
drew up to the edge of the woods.

" No, Mr. Strock," said he. " We had better leave the
carriage deeper in the woods, where there will be no chance
whatever of our being seen."

"Can the carriage drive under these trees?"

" It can," declared Wells. " I have already explored
these woods thoroughly. Five or six hundred feet from
here, there is a little clearing, where we will be completely
hidden, and where our horses may find pasture. Then, as
soon as it is dark, we will go down to the beach, at the
edge of the rocks which shut in the mouth of the creek.
Thus if the Terror is still there, we shall stand between her
and escape."

Eager as we all were for action, it was evidently best to

*By treaty between the United States and Canada, there are no
vessels of war whatever on the Great Lakes. These might, however,
have been little launches belonging to the customs service.

THE CAMPAIGN 213

do as Wells suggested and wait for night. The intervening
time could well be occupied as he said. Leading the horses
by the bridle, while they dragged the empty carriage, we
proceeded through the heavy woods. The tall pines, the
stalwart oaks, the cypress scattered here and there, made
the evening darker overhead. Beneath our feet spread a
carpet of scattered herbs, pine needles and dead leaves.
Such was the thickness of the upper foliage that the last
rays of the setting sun could no longer penetrate here. We
had to feel our way; and it was not without some knocks
that the carriage reached the clearing ten minutes later.

This clearing, surrounded by great trees, formed a sort
of oval, covered with rich grass. Here it was still day-
light, and the darkness would scarcely deepen for over an
hour. There was thus time to arrange an encampment and
to rest awhile after our hard trip over the rough and rocky
roads.

Of course, we were intensely eager to approach the Creek
and see if the Terror was still there. But prudence re-
strained us. A little patience, and the night would enable
us to reach a commanding position unsuspected. Wells
urged this strongly ; and despite my eagerness, I felt that he
was right.

The horses were unharnessed, and left to browse under
the care of the coachman who had driven us. The provis-
ions were unpacked, and John Hart and Nab Walker spread
out a meal on the grass at the foot of a superb cypress
which recalled to me the forest odors of Morganton and
Pleasant Garden. We were hungry and thirsty; and food
and drink were not lacking. Then our pipes were lighted
to calm the anxious moments of waiting that remained.

Silence reigned within the wood. The last songf of the
birds had ceased. With the coming of night the breeze
fell little by little, and the leaves scarcely quivered even at
the tops of the highest branches. The sky darkened rap-
idly after sundown and twilight deepened into obscurity.

I looked at my watch, it was half-past eight. " It is
time, Wells."

" When you will, Mr. Strock."

" Then let us start."

We cautioned the coachman not to let the horses stray
beyond the clearing. Then we started. Wells went in ad-

2i4 THE MASTER OF THE .WORLD

vance, I followed him, and John Hart and Nab Walker
came behind. In the darkness, we three would have been
helpless without the guidance of Wells. Soon we reached
the farther border of the woods; and before us stretched
the banks of Black Rock Creek.

All was silent; all seemed deserted. We could advance
without risk. If the Terror was there, she had cast an-
chor behind the rocks. But was she there? That was the
momentous question! As we approached the denouement
of this exciting affair, my heart was in my throat.

Wells motioned to us to advance. The sand of the
shore crunched beneath our steps. The two hundred feet
between us and the mouth of the Creek were crossed softly,
and a few minutes sufficed to bring us to the rocks at the
edge of the lake.

There was nothing! Nothing!

The spot where Wells had left the Terror twenty-four
hours before was empty. The " Master of the World " was
no longer at Black Rock Creek.

CHAPTER XII

BLACK ROCK CREEK

Human nature is prone to illusions. Of course, there
had been all along a probability that the Terror had de-
serted the locality, even admitting that it was she Wells had
seen the previous day. If some damage to her triple sys-
tem of locomotion had prevented her from regaining either
by land or by water her usual hiding-place, and obliged her
to seek refuge in Black Rock Creek, what ought we to con-
clude now upon finding her here no longer? Obviously, that,
having finished her repairs, she had continued on her way,
and was already far beyond the waters of Lake Erie.

But probable as this result had been from the first, we
had more and more ignored it as our trip proceeded. We
had come to accept as a fact that we should meet the Terror,
that we should find her anchored at the base of the rocks
where Wells had seen her.

And now what disappointment ! I might even say, what
despair! All our efforts gone for nothing! Even if the
Terror was still upon the lake, to find her, reach her

BLACK ROCK CREEK 215

and capture her, was beyond our power, and — it might as
well be fully recognized — beyond all human power.

We stood there, Wells and I, completely crushed, while
John Hart and Nab Walker, no less chagrined, went tramp-
ing along the banks of the Creek, seeking any trace that
had been left behind.

Posted there, at the mouth of the Creek, Wells and I
exchanged scarcely a word. What need was there of words
to enable us to understand each other ! After our eager-
ness and our despair, we were now exhausted. Defeated in
our well-planned attempt, we felt as unwilling to abandon
our campaign, as we were unable to continue it.

Nearly an hour slipped by. We could not resolve to
leave the place. Our eyes still sought to pierce me night.
Sometimes a glimmer, due to the sparkle of the waters,
trembled on the surface of the lake. Then it vanished, and
with it the foolish hope that it had roused. Sometimes
again, we thought we saw a shadow outlined against the
.dark, the silhouette of an approaching boat. Yet again
some eddies would swirl up at our feet, as if the Creek had
been stirred within its depths. These vain imaginings were
dissipated one after the other. They were but the illusions
raised by our strained fancies.

t At length our companions rejoined us. My first ques-
tion was, " Nothing new? "

" Nothing," said John Hart.

" You have explored both banks of the Creek? "

" Yes," responded Nab Walker, " as far as the shallow
water above; and we have not seen even a vestige of the
things which Mr. Wells saw laid on the shore."

" Let us wait awhile," said I, unable to resolve upon a re-
turn to the woods.

At that moment our attention was caught by a sudden
agitation of the waters, which swelled upward at the foot
of the rocks.

" It is like the swell from a vessel," said Wells.

" Yes," said I, instinctively lowering my voice. " What
has caused it? The wind has completely died out. Does
it come from something on the surface of the lake? "

"Or from something underneath," said Wells, bending
forward, the better to determine.

The commotion certainly seemed as if caused by some

216 THE MASTER OF. THE WORLD

boat, whether from beneath the water, or approaching: the
creek from outside upon the lake.

Silent, motionless, we strained eyes and ears to pierce
the profound obscurity. The faint noise of the waves of
the lake lapping on the shore beyond the creek, came to us
distinctly through the night. John Hart and Nab Walker
drew a little aside upon a higher ridge of rocks. As for
me, I leaned close to the water to watch the agitation. It
did not lessen. On the contrary it became momentarily
more evident, and I began to distinguish a sort of regular
throbbing, like that produced by a screw in motion.

" There is no doubt," declared Wells, leaning close to
me, " there is a boat coming toward us."

" There certainly is," responded I, " unless they have
whales or sharks in Lake Erie."

" No, it is a boat," repeated Wells. " Is she headed toward
the mouth of the creek, or is she going further up it?"

" This is just where you saw the boat twice before? "

" Yes, just here."

" Then if this is the same one, and it can be no other,
she will probably return to the same spot."

"There!" whispered Wells, extending his hand toward
the entrance of the creek.

Our companions rejoined us, and all four, crouching low
upon the bank, peered in the direction he pointed.

We vaguely distinguished a black mass moving through
the darkness. It advanced very slowly and was still outside
the creek, upon the lake, perhaps a cable's length to the
northeast. We could scarcely hear even now the faint
throbbing of its engines. Perhaps they had stopped and
the boat was only gliding forward under their previous im-
pulse.

It seemed, then, that this was indeed the submarine which
Wells had watched, and it was returning to pass this night,
like the last, within the shelter of the creek.

Why had it left the anchorage, if only to return? Had
it suffered some new disaster, which again impaired its
power? Or had it been before compelled to leave, with its
repairs still unfinished? What cause constrained it to re-
turn here ? Was there some imperious reason why it could
no longer be turned into an automobile, and go darting away
across the roads of Ohio?

BLACK ROCK .CREEK 217

To all these questions which came crowding upon me, I
could give no answer. Furthermore both Wells and I kept
reasoning under the assumption that this was really the
Terror commanded by the "Master of the World" who
had dated from it his letter of defiance to the government.
Yet this premise was still unproven, no matter how confi-
dent we might feel of it.

Whatever boat this was, that stole so softly through the
night, it continued to approach us. Assuredly its captain
must know perfectly the channels and shores of Black Rock
Creek, since he ventured here in such darkness. Not a
light showed upon the deck. Not a single ray from within
the cabin glimmered through any crevice.

A moment later, we heard some machinery moving very
softly. The swell of the eddies grew stronger, and in a
few moments the boat touched the " quay."

This word " quay," only used in that region, exactly de-
scribes the spot. The rocks at our feet formed a level,
five or six feet above the water, and descending to it per-
pendicularly, exactly like a landing wharf.

" We must not stop here," whispered Wells, seizing me
by the arm.

" No," I answered, " they might see us. We must lie
crouched upon the beach ! Or we might hide in some crev-
ice of the rocks."

" We will follow you."

There was not a moment to lose. The dark mass was
now close at hand, and on its deck, but slightly raised above
the surface of the water, we could trace the silhouettes of
two men.

Were there, then, really only two on board?

We stole softly back to where the ravines rose toward the
woods above. Several niches in the rocks were at hand.
Wells and I crouched down in one, my two assistants in
another. If the men on the Terror landed, they could not
see us ; but we could see them, and would be able to act as
opportunity offered.

There were some slight noises from the boat, a few words
exchanged in our own language. It was evident that the
vessel was preparing to anchor. Then almost instantly, a
rope was thrown out, exactly on the point of the quay where
we had stood.

2i8 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Leaning forward, Wells could discern that the rope was
seized by one of the mariners, who had leaped ashore.
Then we heard a grappling-iron scrape along the ground.

Some moments later, steps crunched upon the sand. Two
men came up the ravine, and went onward toward the edge
of the woods, guiding their steps by a ship lantern.

Where were they going? Was Black Rock Creek a reg-
ular hiding place of the Terror? Had her commander a
depot here for stores or provisions? Did they come here
to restock their craft, when the whim of their wild voyaging
brought them to this part of the continent? Did they know
this deserted, uninhabited spot so well, that they had no
fear of ever being discovered here?

" What shall we do ? " whispered Wells.

" Wait till they return, and then " My words were

cut short by a surprise. The men were not thirty feet from
us, when, one of them chancing to turn suddenly, the light
of their lantern fell full upon his face.

He was one of the two men who had watched before my
house in Long Street. I could not be mistaken. I recog-
nized him as positively as my old servant had done. It
was he; it was assuredly one of the spies of whom I had
never been able to find any further traces ! There was no
longer any doubt, my warning letter had come from them.
It was therefore from the " Master of the World " ; it had
been written from the Terror; and this was the Terror.
Once more I asked myself what could be the connection be-
tween this machine and the Great Eyrie !

In whispered words, I told Wells of my discovery. His
only comment was, " It is all incomprehensible ! "

Meanwhile the two men had continued on their way to
the woods, and were gathering sticks beneath the trees.
"What if they discover our encampment?" murmured
Wells.

" No danger, if they do not go beyond the nearest trees."

" But if they do discover it? "

" They will hurry back to their boat, and we shall be able
to cut off their retreat."

Toward the creek, where their craft lay, there was no
further sound. I left my hiding-place; I descended the
ravine to the quay; I stood on the very spot where the
grappling-iron was fast among the rocks.

BLACK ROCK CREEK 219

The Terror lay there, quiet at the end of its cable. Not
a light was on board; not a person visible, either on the
deck, or on the bank. Was not this my opportunity?
Should I leap on board and there await the return of the
two men?

" Mr. Strode!" It was Wells, who called to me softly
from close at hand.

I drew back in all haste and crouched down beside him.
Was it too late to take possession of the boat? Or would
the attempt perhaps result in disaster from the presence
of others watching on board?

At any rate, the two men with the lantern were close at
hand, returning down the ravine. Plainly they suspected
nothing. Each carrying a bundle of wood, they came for-
ward and stopped upon the quay.

Then one of them raised his voice, though not loudly.
"Hullo! Captain!"

" All right," answered a voice from the boat.

Wells murmured in my ear, " There are three ! "

"Perhaps four," I answered, "perhaps five or six!"

The situation grew more complicated. Against a crew
so^ numerous, what ought we to do ? The least imprudence
might cost us dear ! Now that the two men had returned,
would they re-embark with their fagots? Then would the
boat leave the creek, or would it remain anchored until day?
If it withdrew, would it not be lost to us? It could leave
the waters of Lake Erie, and cross any of the neighboring
states by land; or it could retrace its road by the Detroit
River which would lead it to Lake Huron and the Great
Lakes above. Would such an opportunity as this, in the
narrow waters of Black Rock Creek, ever occur again!

" At least," said I to Wells, " we are four. They do not
expect attack ; they will be surprised. The result is in the
hands of Providence."

I was about to call our two men, when Wells again seized
my arm. " Listen ! " said he.

One of the men hailed the boat, and it drew close up to
the rocks. We heard the Captain say to the two men
ashore, " Everything is all right, up there? "

" Everything, Captain."

" There are still two bundles of wood left there? "

" Two."

220 THE MASTER OF, THE WORLD

" Then one more trip will bring them all on board the
Terror."

The Terror ! It was she !

"Yes; just one more trip," answered one of the men.

" Good ; then we will start off again at daybreak."

Were there then but three of them on board? The Cap-
tain, this Master of the World, and these two men?

Evidently they planned to take aboard the last of their
wood. Then they would withdraw within their machine,
and go to sleep. Would not that be the time to surprise
them, before they could defend themselves?

Rather than to attempt to reach and capture the ship in
face of this resolute Captain who was guarding it, Wells
and I agreed that it was better to let his men return unas-
sailed, and wait till they were all asleep.

It was now half an hour after ten. Steps were once
more heard upon the shore. The man with a lantern and
his companion, again remounted the ravine toward the
woods. When they were safely beyond hearing, Wells
went to warn our men, while I stole forward again to the
very edge of the water.

The Terror lay at the end of a short cable. As well as
I could judge, she was long and slim, shaped like a spindle,
without chimney, without masts, without rigging, such a
shape as had been described when she was seen on the coast
of New England.

I returned to my place, with my men in the shelter of
the ravine; and we looked to our revolvers, which might
well prove of service.

Five minutes had passed since the men reached the woods,
and we expected their return at any moment. After that,
we must wait at least an hour before we made our attack;
so that both the Captain and his comrades might be deep
in sleep. It was important that they should have not a mo-
ment either to send their craft darting out upon the waters
of Lake Erie, or to plunge it beneath the waves where we
would have been entrapped with it.

In all my career I have never felt such impatience. It
seemed to me that the two men must have been detained in
the woods. Something had barred their return.

Suddenly a loud noise was heard, the tumult of run-away
horses, galloping furiously along the shore !

BLACK ROCK CREEK 221

They were our own, which, frightened, and perhaps neg-
lected by the driver, had broken away from the clearing,
and now came rushing along the bank.

At the same moment, the two men reappeared, and this
time they were running with all speed. Doubtless they had
discovered our encampment, and had at once suspected that
there were police hidden in the woods. They realized
that they were watched, they were followed, they would be
seized. So they dashed recklessly down the ravine, and
after loosening the cable, they would doubtless endeavor
to leap aboard. The Terror would disappear with the
speed of a meteor, and our attempt would be wholly de-
feated !

" Forward," I cried. And we scrambled down the sides
of the ravine to cut off the retreat of the two men.

They saw us and, on the instant, throwing down their
bundles, fired at us with revolvers, hitting John Hart in the
leg.

We fired in our turn, but less successfully. The men
neither fell nor faltered in their course. Reaching- the edge
of the creek, without stopping to unloose the cable, they
plunged overboard, and in a moment were clinging to the
deck of the Terror.

Their captain, springing forward, revolver in hand,
fired. The ball grazed Wells.

Nab Walker and I seizing the cable, pulled the black mass
of the boat toward shore. Could they cut the rope in time
to escape us ?

Suddenly the grappling-iron was torn violently from the
rocks. One of its hooks caught in my belt, while Walker
was knocked down by the flying cable. I was entangled
by the iron and the rope and dragged forward

The Terror, driven by all the power of her engines, made
a single bound and darted out across Black Rock Creek.

CHAPTER XIII

ON BOARD THE TERROR

^ When I came to my senses it was daylight. A half light
pierced the thick glass port-hole of the narrow cabin wherein
someone had placed me — how many hours ago, I could not

222 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

say! Yet it seemed to me by the slanting rays, that the
sun could not be very far above the horizon.

I was resting in a narrow bunk with coverings over me.
My clothes, hanging in a corner, had been dried. My belt,
torn in half by the hook of the iron, lay on the floor.

I felt no wound nor injury, only a little weakness. If
I had lost consciousness, I was sure it had not been from a
blow. My head must have been drawn beneath the water,
when I was tangled in the cable. I should have been suffo-
cated, if someone had not dragged me from the lake.

Now, was I on board the Terror? And was I alone with
the Captain and his two men? This seemed probable, al-
most certain. The whole scene of our encounter rose be-
fore my eyes, Hart lying wounded upon the bank; Wells
firing shot after shot, Walker hurled down at the instant
when the grappling hook caught my belt! And my com-
panions? On their side, must not they think that I had
perished in the waters of Lake Erie?

Where was the Terror now, and how was it navigating?
Was it moving as an automobile? Speeding across the
roads of some neighboring State? If so, and if I had been
unconscious for many hours, the machine with its tremen-
dous powers must be already far away. Or, on the other
hand, were we, as a submarine, following some course be-
neath the lake?

No, the Terror was moving upon some broad liquid sur-
face. The sunlight, penetrating my cabin, showed that the
window was not submerged. On the other hand, I felt
none of the jolting that the automobile must have suffered
even on the smoothest highway. Hence the Terror was
not traveling upon land.

As to deciding whether she was still traversing Lake
Erie, that was another matter. Had not the Captain reas-
cended the Detroit River, and entered Lake Huron, or even
Lake Superior beyond ? It was difficult to say.

At any rate I decided to go up on deck. From there I
might be able to judge. Dragging myself somewhat heav-
ily from the bunk, I reached for my clothes and dressed,
though without much energy. Was I not probably locked
within this cabin?

The only exit seemed by a ladder and hatchway above my
head. The hatch rose readily to my hand, and I ascended
half way on deck.

ON BOARD THE TERROR 223

_ My first care was to look forward, backward, and on both
sides of the speeding Terror. Everywhere a vast expanse
of waves ! Not a shore in sight ! Nothing but the horizon
formed by sea and sky !

Whether it was a lake or the ocean I could easily settle.
A!s we shot forward at such speed the water cut by the
bow, rose furiously upward on either side, and the spray
lashed savagely against me.

I tasted it. It was fresh water, and very probably that
of Lake Erie. The sun was but midway toward the zenith,
so it could scarcely be more than seven or eight hours since
the moment when the Terror had darted from Black Rock
Creek.

This must therefore be the following morning, that of
the thirty-first of July.

Considering that Lake Erie is two hundred and twenty
miles long, and over fifty wide, there was no reason to be
surprised that I could see no land, neither that of the United
States to the southeast nor of Canada to the northwest.

At this moment there were two men on the deck, one be-
ing at the bow on the look-out, the other in the stern, keep-
ing the course to the northeast, as I judged by the position
of the sun. The one at the bow was he whom I had recog-
nized as he ascended the ravine at Black Rock. The second
was his companion who had carried the lantern. I looked
in vain for the one whom they had called Captain. He was
not in sight.

It will be readily appreciated how eager was my desire
to stand in the presence of the creator of this prodigious
machine, of this fantastic personage who occupied and pre-
occupied the attention of all the world, the daring inventor
who did not fear to engage in battle against the entire hu-
man race, and who proclaimed himself "Master of the
World."

I approached the man on the look-out, and after a minute
of silence I asked him, " Where is the Captain? "

He looked at me through half-closed eyes. He seemed
not to understand me. Yet I knew, having Heard him the
night before, that he spoke English. Moreover, I noticed
that he didnot appear surprised to see me out of my cabin.
Turning his back upon me, he continued to search the
horizon.

I stepped then toward the stern, determined to ask the

224 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

same question about the Captain. But when I approached
the steersman, he waved me away with his hand, and I ob-
tained no other response.

It only remained for me to study this craft, from which
we had been repelled with revolver shots, when we had
seized upon its anchor rope.

I therefore set leisurely to work to examine the construc-
tion of this machine, which was carrying me — whither?
The deck and the upper works were all made of some metal
which I did not recognize. In the center of the deck, a
scuttle half raised covered the room where the engines were
working regularly and almost silently. As I had seen be-
fore, neither masts, nor rigging! Not even a flagstaff at
the stern ! Toward the bow there arose the top of a peri-
scope by which the Terror could be guided when beneath
the water.

On the sides were folded back two sort of outshoots re-
sembling the gangways on certain Dutch boats. Of these
I could not understand the use.

In the bow there rose a third hatch-way which presum-
ably covered the quarters occupied by the two men when
the Terror was at rest.

At the stern a similar hatch gave access probably to the
cabin of the captain, who remained unseen. When these
different hatches were shut down, they had a sort of rubber
covering which closed them hermetically tight, so that the
water could not reach the interior when the boat plunged
beneath the ocean.

As to the motor, which imparted such prodigious speed
to the machine, I could see nothing of it, nor of the pro-
peller. However, the fast speeding boat left behind it only
a long, smooth wake. The extreme fineness of the lines of
the craft, caused it to make scarcely any waves, and enabled
it to ride lightly over the crest of the billows even in a rough
sea.

As was already known, the power by which the machine
was driven, was neither steam nor gasoline, nor any of those
similar liquids so well known by their odor, which are
usually employed for automobiles and submarines. No
doubt the power here used was electricity, generated on
board, at some high power. Naturally I asked myself
whence comes this electricity, from piles, or from accumu-

THE ESCAPE FROM NIAGARA.

Several cannon shot swept over the Terror without hitting its low-
lying deck. The sun had set, and through the twilight the moon's rays
shone upon us from the south. The speed of our craft, doubled by the
speed of the current, was prodigious ! In another moment, we should
plunge into that black hollow which forms the very center of the Cana-
dian Falls. * * * *

Suddenly a sharp noise was heard from the mechanism which
throbbed within our craft. The long gangways folded back on the sides
of the machine, spread out like wings ; and at the moment when the
Terror reached the very edge of the falls, she arose into space, escaping
from the thundering cataract in the center of a lunar rainbow. — Page 237.

vol. 14.

ON BOARD THE TERROR 225

lators ? But how were these piles or accumulators charged?
Unless, indeed, the electricity was drawn directly from the
surrounding air or from the water, by processes hitherto
unknown. And I asked myself with intense eagerness if
in the present situation, I might be able to discover these
secrets.

Then I thought of my companions, left behind on the
shore of Black Rock Creek. One of them, I knew, was
wounded; perhaps the others were also. Having seen me
dragged overboard by the hawser, could they possibly sup-
pose that I had been rescued by the Terror? Surely not!
Doubtless the news of my death had already been tele-
graphed to Mr. Ward from Toledo. And now who would
dare to undertake a new campaign against this " Master of
the World"?

These thoughts occupied my mind as I awaited the cap-
tain's appearance on the deck. He did not appear.

I soon began to feel very hungry ; for I must have fasted
now nearly twenty-four hours. I had eaten nothing since
our hasty meal in the woods, even if that had been the night
before. And judging by the pangs which now assailed my
stomach, I began to wonder if I had not been snatched on
board the Terror two days before, — or even more.

Happily the question if they meant to feed me, and how
they meant to feed me, was solved at once. The man at
the bow left his post, descended, and reappeared. Then,
without saying a word, he placed some food before me and
returned to his place. Some potted meat, dried fish, sea-
biscuit, and a pot of ale so strong that I had to mix it with
water, such was the meal to which I did full justice. My
fellow travelers had doubtless eaten before I came out of
the cabin, and they did not join me.

There was nothing further to attract my eyes, and I
sank again into thought. How would this adventure fin-
ish? Would I see this invisible captain at length, and
would he restore me to liberty? Could I regain it in spite
of him? That would depend on circumstances! But if
the Terror kept thus far away from the shore, or if she
traveled beneath the water, how could I escape from her?
Unless we landed, and the machine became an automobile,
must I not abandon all hope of escape?

Moreover — why should I not admit it? — to escape with-

y. XIV Verne

226 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

out having learned anything of the Terror's secrets would
not have contented me at all. Although I could not thus
far flatter myself upon the success of my campaign, and
though I had come within a hairbreadth of losing1 my life,
and though the future promised far more of evil than of
good, yet after all, a step forward had been attained. To be
sure, if I was never to be able to re-enter into communica-
tion with the world, if, like this Master of the World who
had voluntarily placed himself outside the law, I was now
placed outside humanity, then the fact that I had reached
the Terror would have little value.

The craft continued headed to the northeast, following
the longer axis of Lake Erie. She was advancing- at only
half speed; for, had she been doing her best, she must some
hours before have reached the northeastern extremity of
the lake.

At this end Lake Erie has no other outlet than the Niag-
ara River, by which it empties into Lake Ontario. Now,
this river is barred by the famous cataract some fifteen miles
beyond the important city of Buffalo. Since the Terror
had not retreated by the Detroit River, down which she
had descended from the upper lakes, how was she to escape
from these waters, unless indeed she crossed by land?

The sun passed the meridian. The day was beautiful;
warm but not unpleasantly so, thanks to the breeze made
by our passage. The shores of the lake continued invisible,
on both the Canadian and the American side.

Was the captain determined not to show himself? Had
he some reason for remaining unknown? Such a precau-
tion would indicate that he intended to set me at liberty
in the evening, when the Terror could approach the shore
unseen.

Toward two o'clock, however, I heard a slight noise;
the central hatchway was raised. The man I had so im-
patiently awaited appeared on deck.

I must admit he paid no more attention to me, than his
men had done. Going to the stern, he took the helm. The
man whom he had relieved, after a few words in a low
tone, left the deck, descending by the forward hatchway.
The captain, having scanned the horizon, consulted the
compass, and slightly altered our course. The speed of
the Terror increased.

ON BOARD THE TERROR 227

This man, so interesting both to me and to the world,
must have been some years over fifty. He was of middle
height, with powerful shoulders, still very erect; a strong
head, with thick hair rather gray than white, smooth shaven
cheeks, and a short, crisp beard. His chest was broad, his
jaw prominent, and he had that characteristic sign of tre-
mendous energy, bushy eyebrows drawn sharply together.
Assuredly he possessed a constitution of iron, splendid
health, and warm red blood beneath his sun burned skin.

Like his companions the captain was dressed in sea-
clothes covered by an oil-skin coat, and with a woolen cap
which could be pulled down to cover his head entirely,
when he so desired.

Need I add that the captain of the Terror was the other
of the two men, who had watched my house in Long street.
Moreover, if I recognized him, he also must recognize me
as chief-inspector Strock, to whom had been assigned the
task of penetrating the Great Eyrie.

I looked at him curiously. On his part, while he did not
seek to avoid my eyes, he showed at least a singular in-
difference to the fact that he had a stranger on board.

As I watched him, the idea came to me, a suggestion
which I had not connected with the first view of him in
Washington, that I had already seen this characteristic
figure. Was it in one of the photographs held in the police
department, or was it merely a picture in some shop win-
dow? But the remembrance was very vague. Perhaps I
merely imagined it.

Well, though his companions had not had the politeness
to answer me, perhaps he would be more courteous. He
spoke the same language as I, although I could not feel
quite positive that he was of American birth. He might
indeed have decided to pretend not to understand me, so
as to avoid all discussion while he held me prisoner.

In that case, what did he mean to do with me? Did he
intend to dispose of me without further ceremony? Was
he only waiting for night to throw me overboard? Did
even the little which I knew of him, make me a danger of
which he must rid himself? But in that case, he might
better have left me at the end of his anchor line. That
would have saved him the necessity of drowning me over
again.

228 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

I turned, I walked to the stern, I stopped full in front
of him. Then, at length, he fixed full upon me a glance
that burned like a flame.

" Are you the captain? " I asked.

He was silent.

" This boat! Is it really the Terror? "

To this question also there was no response. Then I
reached toward him; I would have taken hold of his arm.

He repelled me without violence, but with a movement
that suggested tremendous restrained power.

Planting myself again before him, I demanded in a
louder tone, " What do you mean to do with me? "

Words seemed almost ready to burst from his lips, which
he compressed with visible irritation. As though to check
his speech he turned his head aside. His hand touched
a regulator of some sort, and the machine rapidly increased
its speed.

Anger almost mastered me. I wanted to cry out " So
be it! Keep your silence! I know who you are, just as
I know your machine, recognized at Madison, at Boston,
at Lake Kirdall. Yes; it is you, who have rushed so reck-
lessly over our roads, our seas and our lakes ! Your boat
is the Terror; and you her commander, wrote that letter
to the government. It is you who fancy you can fight the
entire world. You, who call yourself the Master of the
World!"

And how could he have denied it! I saw at that mo-
ment the famous initials inscribed upon the helm!

Fortunately I restrained myself; and despairing of get-
ting any response to my questions, I returned to my seat
near the hatchway of my cabin.

For long hours, I patiently watched the horizon in the
hope that land would soon appear. Yes, I sat waiting ! For
I was reduced to that! Waiting! No doubt, before the
day closed, the Terror must reach the end of Lake Erie,
since she continued her course steadily to the northeast.

CHAPTER XIV

NIAGARA

The hours passed, and the situation <iid not change.
The steersman returned on deck, and the captain, descend-
ing, watched the movement of the engines. Even when
our speed increased, these engines continued working with-
out noise, and with remarkable smoothness. There was
never one of those inevitable breaks, with which in most
motors the pistons sometimes miss a stroke. I concluded
that the Terror, in each of its transformations must be
worked by rotary engines. But I could not assure myself
of this.

For the rest, our direction did not change. Always we
headed toward the northeast end of the lake, and hence to-
ward Buffalo.

Why, I wondered, did the captain persist in following
this route? He could not intend to stop at Buffalo, in the
midst of a crowd of boats and shipping of every kind. If
he meant to leave the lake by water, there was only the
Niagara River to follow; and its Falls would be impassable,
even to such a machine as this. The only escape was by
the Detroit River, and the Terror was constantly leaving
that farther behind.

Then another idea occurred to me. Perhaps the captain
was only waiting for night to return to the shore of the
lake. There, the boat, changed to an automobile, would
quickly cross the neighboring States. If I did not succeed
in making my escape, during this passage across the land,
all hope of regaining my liberty would be gone.

True, I might learn where this Master of the World hid
himself. I might learn what no one had yet been able
to discover, assuming always that he did not dispose of
me at one time or another — and what I expected his " dis-
posal " would be, is easily comprehended.

I knew the northeast end of Lake Erie well, having often
visited that section of New York State which extends west-
ward from Albany to Buffalo. Three years before, ai
police mission had led me to explore carefully the shores
of the Niagara River, both above and below the cataract
and its Suspension Bridge. I had visited the two principal
islands between Buffalo and the little city of Niagara Falls,
I had explored Navy Island and also Goat Island, which

229

23o THE MASTER OF. THE WORLD

separates the American falls from those of the Canadian
side.

Thus if an opportunity for flight presented itself, I should
not find myself in an unknown district. But would this
chance offer? And at heart, did I desire it, or would I
seize upon it? What secrets still remained in this affair
in which good fortune — or was it evil fortune — had so
closely entangled me!

On the other hand, I saw no real reason to suppose that
there was any chance of my reaching the shores of the
Niagara River. The Terror would surely not venture into
this trap which had no exit. Probably she would not even
go to the extremity of the lake.

Such were the thoughts that spun through my excited
brain, while my eyes remained fixed upon the empty
horizon.

And always one persistent question remained insolvable.
Why had the captain written to me personally that threaten-
ing letter? Why had he spied upon me in Washington?
What bond attached him to the Great Eyrie? There might
indeed be subterranean canals which gave him passage to
Lake Kirdall, but could he pierce the impenetrable fortress
of the Eyrie? No! That was beyond him!

Toward four o'clock in the afternoon, reckoning by the
speed of the Terror and her direction, I knew we must
be approaching Buffalo; and indeed, its outlines began to
show some fifteen miles ahead. During our passage, a
few boats had been seen, but we had passed them at a long
distance, a distance which our captain could easily keep
as great as he pleased. Moreover, the Terror lay so low
upon the water, that at even a mile away it would have
been difficult to discover her.

Now, however, the hills encircling the end of Lake Erie,
came within vision, beyond Buffalo, forming the sort of
funnel by which Lake Erie pours its waters into the chan-
nel of the Niagara river. Some dunes rose on the right,
groups of trees stood out here and there. In the distance,
several freight steamers and fishing smacks appeared. The
sky became spotted with trails of smoke, which were swept
along by a light eastern breeze.

What was our captain thinking of in still heading toward
the port of Buffalo! Did not prudence forbid him to

NIAGARA 231

venture further? At each moment, I expected that he
would give a sweep of the helm and turn away toward the
western shore of the lake. Or else, I thought, he would
prepare to plunge beneath the surface. But this persistence
in holding our bow toward Buffalo was impossible to un-
derstand !

At length the helmsman, whose eyes were watching the
northeastern shore, made a sign to his companion. The
latter, leaving the bow, went to the central hatchway, and
descended into the engine room. Almost immediately the
captain came on deck, and joining the helmsman, spoke
with him in a low voice.

The latter, extending his hand toward Buffalo, pointed
out two black spots, which showed five or six miles distant
on the starboard side. The captain studied them atten-
tively. Then shrugging his shoulders, he seated himself
at the stern without altering the course of the Terror.

A quarter of an hour later, I could see plainly that there
were two smoke clouds at the point they had studied so
carefully. Little by little the black spots beneath these be-
came more defined. They were two long, low steamers,
which, coming from the port of Buffalo, were approaching
rapidly.

Suddenly it struck me that these were the two torpedo
destroyers of which Mr. Ward had spoken, and which I
had been told to summon in case of need.

These destroyers were of the newest type, the swiftest
boats yet constructed in the country. Driven by powerful
engines of the latest make, they had covered almost thirty
miles an hour. It is true, the Terror commanded an even
greater speed, and always, if she were surrounded so that
flight was impossible, she could submerge herself out of
reach of all pursuit. In truth, the destroyers would have
had to be submarines to attack the Terror with any chance
of success. And I know not, if even in that case, the con-
test would have been equal.

Meanwhile, it seemed to me evident that the commanders
of the two ships had been warned, perhaps by Mr. Wells
who, returning swiftly to Toledo, might have telegraphed
to them the news of our defeat. It appeared, moreover,
that they had seen the Terror, for they were headed at full
speed toward her. Yet our captain, seemingly giving them

232 THE MASTER OF. THE WORLD

no thought whatever, continued his course toward the
Niagara River.

What would the torpedo destroyers do? Presumably,
they would maneuver so as to seek to shut the Terror
within the narrowing end of the lake where the Niagara
offered her no passage.

Our captain now took the helm. One of the men was
at the bow, the other in the engine room. Would the or-
der be given for me to go down into the cabin?

It was not, to my extreme satisfaction. To speak
frankly, no one paid any attention to me. It was as if I
had not been on board. I watched, therefore, not without
mixed emotions, the approach of the destroyers. Less than
two miles distant now they separated in such a way as
to hold the Terror between their fires.

As to the Master of the World, his manner indicated only
the most profound disdain. He seemed sure that these
destroyers were powerless against him. With a touch to
his machinery he could distance them, no matter what their
speed ! With a few turns of her engine, the Terror would
dart beyond their cannon shots! Or, in the depths of the
lake, what projectiles could find the submarine!

Five minutes later, scarcely a mile separated us from
the two powerful fighters which pursued us. Our captain
permitted them to approach still closer. Then he pressed
upon a handle. The Terror, doubling the action of her
propellers, leaped across the surface of the lake. She
played with the destroyers! Instead of turning in flight,
she continued her forward course. Who knew if she
would not even have the audacity to pass between her two
enemies, to coax them after her, until the hour when, as
night closed in, they would be forced to abandon the use-
less pursuit!

The city of Buffalo was now in plain view on the border
of the lake. I saw its huge buildings, its church towers,
its grain elevators. Only four or five miles ahead, Niagara
river opened to the northward.

Under these new conditions which way should I turn?
When we passed in front of the destroyers, or perhaps be-
tween them, should I not throw myself into the water?
I was a good swimmer, and such a chance might never oc-
cur again. The captain could not stop to recapture me.

NIAGARA 233

By diving could I not easily escape, even from a bullet?
I should surely be seen by one or other of the pursuers.
Perhaps, even, their commanders had been warned of my
presence on board the Terror. Would not a boat be sent
to rescue me?

Evidently my chance of success would be even greater,
if the Terror entered the narrow waters of Niagara River.
At Navy Island I would be able to set foot on territory that
I knew well. But to suppose that our captain would rush
into this river where he might be swept over the great cat-
aract! That seemed impossible! I resolved to await the
destroyers' closest approach and at the last moment I would
decide.

Yet my resolution to escape was but half-hearted. I
could not resign myself thus to lose all chance of follow-
ing up this mystery. My instincts as a police official re-
volted. I had but to reach out my hand in order to seize
this man who had been outlawed ! Should I let him escape
me! No! I would not save myself! Yet, on the other
hand, what fate awaited me, and where would I be carried
by the Terror, if I remained on board?

It was a quarter past six. The destroyers, quivering
and trembling under the strain of their speed, gained on
us perceptibly. They were now directly astern, leaving
between them a distance of twelve or fifteen cable lengths.
The Terror, without increasing her speed, saw one of them
approach on the port side, the other to starboard.

I did not leave my place. The man at the bow was close
by me. Immovable at the helm, his eyes burning beneath
his contracted brows, the captain waited. He meant, per-
haps, to finish the chase by one last maneuver.

Suddenly, a puff of smoke rose from the destroyer on our
left. A projectile, brushing the surface of the water,
passed in front of the Terror, and sped beyond the de-
stroyer on our right.

I glanced around anxiously. Standing by my side, the
lookout seemed to await a sign from the captain. As for
him, he did not even turn his head; and I shall never for-
get the expression of disdain imprinted on his visage.

At this moment, I was pushed suddenly toward the hatch-
way of my cabin, which was fastened above me. At the
same instant the other hatchways were closed ; the deck be-

234 THE MASTER OF THE lWORLD

came watertight. I heard a single throb of the machinery,
and the plunge was made, the submarine disappeared beneath
the waters of the lake.

Cannon shot still boomed above us. Their heavy echo
reached my ear; then everything was peace. Only a faint
light penetrated through the porthole into my cabin. The
submarine, without the least rolling or pitching, sped
silently through the deeps.

I had seen with what rapidity, and also with what ease
the transformation of the Terror had been made. No less
easy and rapid, perhaps, would be her change to an auto-
mobile.

And now what would this Master of the World do?
Presumably he would change his course, unless, indeed, he
preferred to speed to land, and there continue his route
along the roads. It still seemed more probable, however,
that he would turn back toward the west, and after dis-
tancing the destroyers, regain the Detroit River. Our sub-
mersion would probably only last long enough to escape out
of cannon range, or until night forbade pursuit.

Fate, however, had decreed a different ending to this ex-
citing chase. Scarce ten minutes had passed when there
seemed some confusion on board. I heard rapid words
exchanged in the engine room. The steadily moving ma-
chinery became noisy and irregular. At once I suspected
that some accident compelled the submarine to reascend.

I was not mistaken. In a moment, the semi-obscurity
of my cabin was pierced by sunshine. The Terror had
risen above water. I heard steps on the deck, and the
hatchways were re-opened, including mine. I sprang up
the ladder.

The captain had resumed his place at the helm, while the
two men were busy below. I looked to see if the destroyers
were still in view. Yes! Only a quarter of a mile away!
The Terror had already been seen, and the powerful vessels
which enforced the mandates of our government were
swinging into position to give chase. Once more the Ter-
ror sped in the direction of Niagara River.

I must confess, I could make nothing of this maneuver.
Plunging into a cul-de-sac, no longer able to seek the depths
because of the accident, the Terror might, indeed, tem-
porarily distance her pursuers; but she must find her path

NIAGARA 235

barred by them when she attempted to return. Did she
intend to land, and if so, could she hope to outrun the tele-
grams which would warn every police agency of her ap-
proach ?

We were now not half a mile ahead. The destroyers
pursued us at top speed, though being now directly be-
hind, they were in poor position for using their guns. Our
captain seemed content to keep this distance; though it
would have been easy for him to increase it, and then at
nightfall, to dodge back behind the enemy.

Already Buffalo had disappeared on our right, and a
little after seven o'clock the opening of the Niagara River
appeared ahead. If he entered there, knowing that he
could^ not return, our captain must have lost his mind !
And in truth was he not insane, this man who proclaimed
himself, who believed himself, Master of the World?

_ I watched him there, calm, impassive not even turning
his head to note the progress of the destroyers and I won-
dered at him.

This end of the lake was absolutely deserted. Freight
steamers bound for the towns on the banks of the upper
Niagara are not numerous, as its navigation is dangerous.
Not one was in sight. Not even a fishing-boat crossed
the path of the Terror. Even the two destroyers would
soon be obliged to pause in their pursuit, if we continued
our mad rush through these dangerous waters.

I have said that the Niagara River flows between New
York and Canada. Its width, of about three quarters of
a mile, narrows as it approaches the falls. Its length, from
Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is about fifteen leagues. It
flows in a northerly direction, until it empties the waters
of Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie into Ontario,
the last lake of this mighty chain. The celebrated falls,
which occur in the midst of this great river have a height
of over a hundred and fifty feet. They are called some-
times the Horse-shoe Falls, because they curve inward like
the iron shoe. The Indians have given them the name
of " Thunder of Waters," and in truth a mighty thunder
roars from them without cessation, and with a tumult
which is heard for several miles away.

Between Lake Erie, and the little city of Niagara Falls,
two islands divide the current of the river, Navy Island,

236 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

a league above the cataract, and Goat Island, which separ-
ates the American and the Canadian Falls. Indeed, on the
lower point of this latter isle stood once that " Terrapin
Tower " so daringly built in the midst of the plunging
waters on the very edge of the abyss. It has been de-
stroyed; for the constant wearing away of the stone be-
neath the cataract makes the ledge move with the ages
slowly up the river, and the tower has been drawn into
the gulf.

The town of Fort Erie stands on the Canadian shore at
the entrance of the river. Two other towns are set along
the banks above the falls, Schlosser on the right bank, and
Chippewa on the left, located on either side of Navy Island.
It is at this point that the current, bound within a nar-
rower channel, begins to move at tremendous speed, to be-
come two miles further on, the celebrated cataract.

The Terror had already passed Fort Erie. The sun in
the west touched the edge of the Canadian horizon, and
the moon, faintly seen, rose above the mists of the south.
Darkness would not envelop us for another hour.

The destroyers, with huge clouds of smoke streaming
from their funnels, followed us a mile behind. Thev sped
between banks green with shade trees and dotted with cot-
tages which lay among lovely gardens.

Obviously the Terror could no longer turn back. The
destroyers shut her in completely. It is true their com-
manders did not know, as I did, that an accident to her
machinery had forced her to the surface, and that it was
impossible for her to escape them by another plunge.
Nevertheless, they continued to follow, and would as-
suredly maintain their pursuit to the very last.

I marveled at the intrepidity of their chase through these
dangerous waters. I marveled still more at the conduct
of our captain. Within a half hour now, his course would
be barred by the cataract. No matter how perfect his ma-
chine, it could not escape the power of the great falls. If
the current once mastered our engines, we should inevitably
disappear in the gulf nearly two hundred feet deep which
the waters have dug at the base of the falls! Perhaps,
however, our captain had still power to turn to one of the
shores and flee by the automobile routes.

In the midst of this excitement, what action should I

NIAGARA 237

fake personally? Should I attempt to gain the shores of
Navy Island, if we indeed advanced that far? If I did
not seize this chance, never after what I had learned of his
secrets, never would the Master of the World restore me to
liberty.

I suspected, however, that my flight was no longer pos-
sible. If I was not confined within my cabin, I no longer
remained unwatched. While the captain retained his place
at the helm, his assistant by my side never removed his eyes
from me. At the first movement, I should be seized and
locked within my room. For the present, my fate was evi-
dently bound up with that of the Terror.

The distance which separated us from the two destroyers
was now growing rapidly less. Soon they were but a few
cable-lengths away. Could the motor of the Terror, since
the accident, no longer hold its speed! Yet the captain
showed not the least anxiety, and made no effort to reach
land!

We could hear the hissing of the steam which escaped
from the valves of the destroyers, to mingle with the
streamers of black smoke. But we heard, even more
plainly, the roar of the cataract, now less than three miles
away.

The Terror took the left branch of the river in passing:
Navy Island. At this point, she was within easy reach of
the shore, yet she shot ahead. Five minutes later, we
could see the first trees of Goat Island. The current be-
came more and more irresistible. If the Terror did not
stop, the destroyers could not much longer follow her. If
it pleased our accursed captain to plunge us into the vortex
of the falls, surely they did not mean to follow into the
abyss !

Indeed, at this moment they signaled each other, and
stopped the pursuit. They were scarce more than six hun-
dred feet from the cataract. Then their thunders burst
on the air and several cannon shot swept over the Terror
without hitting its low-lying deck.

The sun had set, and through the twilight the moon's
rays shone upon us from the south. The speed of our
craft, doubled by the speed of the current, was prodigious !
In another moment, we should plunge into that black hol-
low which forms the very center of the Canadian Falls.

238 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

With an eye of horror, I saw the shores of Goat Island
flashed by, then came the Isles of the Three Sisters, drowned
in the spray from the abyss.

I sprang up; I started to throw myself into the water, in
the desperate hope of gaining this last refuge. One of the
men seized me from behind.

Suddenly a sharp noise was heard from the mechanism
which throbbed within our craft. The long: gangways
folded back on the sides of the machine, spread out like
wings, and at the moment when the Terror reached the
very edge of the falls, she arose into space, escaping from
the thundering cataract in the center of a lunar rainbow.

CHAPTER XV

THE EAGLE'S NEST

On the morrow, when I awoke after a sound sleep, our
vehicle seemed motionless. It seemed to me evident that
we were not running upon land. Yet neither were we
rushing through or beneath the waters; nor yet soaring
across the sky. Had the inventor regained that mysterious
hiding-place of his, where no human being had ever set foot
before him?

And now, since he had not disembarrassed himself of my
presence, was his secret about to be revealed to me?

It seemed astonishing that I had slept so profoundly dur-
ing most of our voyage through the air. It puzzled me and
I asked if this sleep had not been caused by some drug,
mixed with my last meal, the captain of the Terror having
wished thus to prevent me from knowing the place where
we landed. All that I can recall of the previous night is
the terrible impression made upon me by that moment when
the machine, instead of being caught in the vortex of the
cataract rose under the impulse of its machinery like a bird
with its huge wings beating with tremendous power!

So this machine actually fulfilled a four- fold use! It
was at the same time automobile, boat, submarine, and air-
ship. Earth, sea and air, — it could move through all three
elements ! And with what power ! With what speed ! A
few instants sufficed to complete its marvelous transfor-
mations. The same engine drove it along all its courses!

THE EAGLE'S NEST 239

And I had been a witness of its metamorphoses ! But that
of which I was still ignorant, and which I could perhaps
discover, was the source of the energy which drove the
machine, and above all, who was the inspired inventor who,
after having created it, in every detail, guided it with so
much ability and audacity!

At the moment when the Terror rose above the Canadian
Falls, I was held down against the hatchway of my cabin.
The clear, moonlit evening had permitted me to note the
direction taken by the air-ship. It followed the course of
the river and passed the Suspension Bridge three miles be-
low the falls. It is here that the irresistible rapids of the
Niagara River begin, where the river bends sharply to de-
scend toward Lake Ontario.

On leaving this point, I was sure that we had turned to-
ward the east. The captain continued at the helm. I had
not addressed a word to him. What good would it do?
He would not have answered. I noted that the Terror
seemed to be guided in its course through the air with sur-
prising ease. Assuredly the roads of the air were as
familiar to it as those of the seas and of the lands!

In the presence of such results, could one not under-
stand the enormous pride of this man who proclaimed him-
self Master of the World? Was he not in control of a
machine infinitely superior to any that had ever sprung
from the hand of man, and against which men were power-
less? In truth, why should he sell this marvel? Why
should he accept the millions offered him? Yes, I com-
prehended now that absolute confidence in himself which
was expressed in his every attitude. And where might not
his ambition carry him, if by its own excess it mounted some
day into madness !

A half hour after the Terror soared into the air, I had
sunk into complete unconsciousness, without realizing its
approach. I repeat, it must have been caused by some
drug. Without doubt, our commander did not wish me
to know the road he followed.

Hence I cannot say whether the aviator continued his
flight through space, or whether the mariner sailed the sur-
face of some sea or lake, or the chauffeur sped across the
American roads. No recollection remains with me of what
passed during that night of July thirty-first.

24o THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Now, what was to follow from this adventure? And
especially concerning myself, what would be its end?

I have said that at the moment when I awoke from my
strange sleep, the Terror seemed to me completely motion-
less. I could hardly be mistaken; whatever had been her
method of progress, I should have felt some movement,
even in the air. I lay in my berth in the cabin, where I
had been shut in without knowing it, just as I had been on
the preceding night which I had passed on board the Ter*
ror on Lake Erie.

My business now was to learn if I would be allowed to
go on deck here where the machine had landed. I at-
tempted to raise the hatchway. It was fastened.

" Ah ! " said I, " am I to be kept here until the Terror
recommences its travels ? " Was not that, indeed, the only
time when escape was hopeless?

My impatience and anxiety may be appreciated. I knew
not how long this halt might continue.

I had not a quarter of an hour to wait. A' noise of bars
being removed came to my ear. The hatchway was
raised from above. A3 wave of light and air penetrated my
cabin.

With one bound I reached the deck. My eyes in an in-
stant swept round the horizon.

The Terror, as I had thought, rested quiet on the ground.
She was in the midst of a rocky hollow measuring from
fifteen to eighteen hundred feet in circumference. A floor
of yellow gravel carpeted its entire extent, unrelieved by a
single tuft of herbage.

This hollow formed an almost regular oval, with its longer
diameter extending north and south. As to the surround-
ing wall, what was its height, what the character of its
crest, I could not judge. Above us was gathered a fog so
heavy, that the rays of the sun had not yet pierced it.
Heavy trails of cloud drifted across the sandy floor,
Doubtless the morning was still young, and this mist might
later be dissolved.

It was quite cold here, although this was the first day
of August. I concluded therefore that we must be far
in the north, or else high above sea-level. We must still
be somewhere on the New Continent; though where, it was
impossible to surmise. Yet no matter how rapid our flight

THE EAGLE'S NEST 241

had been, the air-ship could not have traversed either ocean
in the dozen hours since our departure from Niagara.

At this moment, I saw the captain come from an open-
ing in the rocks, probably a grotto, at the base of this cliff
hidden in the fog. Occasionally, in the mists above, ap-
peared the shadows of huge birds. Their raucous cries
were the sole interruption to the profound silence. Who
knows if they were not affrighted by the arrival of this
formidable, winged monster, which they could not match
either in might or speed.

Everything led me to believe that it was here that the
Master of the World withdrew in the intervals between his
prodigious journeys. Here was the garage of his auto-
mobile ; the harbor of his boat ; the hangar of his air-ship.

And now the Terror stood motionless at the bottom of
this hollow. At last I could examine her; and it looked
as if her owners had no intention of preventing me. The
truth is that the commander seemed to take no more no-
tice of my presence than before. His two companions
joined him, and the three did not hesitate to enter together
into the grotto I had seen. What a chance to study the
machine, at least its exterior ! As to its inner parts, prob-
ably I should never get beyond conjecture.

In fact, except for that of my cabin, the hatchways were
closed; and it would be vain for me to attempt to open
them. At any rate, it might be more interesting to find
out what kind of propeller drove the Terror in these many
transformations.

I jumped to the ground and found I was left at leisure,
to proceed with this first examination.

The machine was as I have said spindle-shaped. The
bow was sharper than the stern. The body was of alumi-
nium, the wings of a substance whose nature I could not
determine. The body rested on four wheels, about two
feet in diameter. These had pneumatic tires so thick as
to assure ease of movement at any speed. Their spokes
spread out like paddles or battledores ; and when the Terror
moved either on or under -the water, they must have in-
creased her pace.

These wheels were not however, the principal propeller.
This consisted of two " Parsons " turbines placed on either
side of the keel. Driven with extreme rapidity by the en-

V. XIV Verne J J

242 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

gine, they urged the boat onward in the water by twin
screws, and I even questioned if they were not powerful
enough to propel the machine through the air.

The chief aerial support, however, was that of the great
wings, now again in repose, and folded back along the
sides._ Thus the theory of the " heavier than air " flying
machine was employed by the inventor, a system which en-
abled him to dart through space with a speed probably
superior to that of the largest birds.

As to the agent which set in action these various me-
chanisms, I repeat, it was, it could be, no other than elec-
tricity. But from what source did his batteries get their
power? Had he somewhere an electric factory, to which
he must return? Were the dynamos, perhaps working
in one of the caverns of this hollow?

The result of my examination was that, while I could
see that the machine used wheels and turbine screws and
wings, I knew nothing of either its engine, nor of the
force which drove it. To be sure, the discovery of this
secret would be of little value to me. To employ it I must
first be free. And after what I knew — little as that really
was — the Master of the World would never release me.

There remained, it is true, the chance of escape. But
would an opportunity ever present itself? If there could
be none during the voyages of the Terror, might there pos-
sibly be, while we remained in this retreat?

The first question to be solved was the location of this
hollow. What communication did it have with the sur-
rounding region? Could one only depart from it by a
flying-machine? And in what part of the United States
were we? Was it not reasonable to estimate, that our
flight through the darkness had covered several hundred
leagues?

There was one very natural hypothesis which deserved to
be considered, if not actually accepted. What more natural
'harbor could there be for the Terror than the Great Eyrie ?
Was it too difficult a flight for our aviator to reach the
summit? Could he not soar anywhere that the vultures
and the eagles could ? Did not that inaccessible Eyrie offer
to the Master of the World just such a retreat as our police
had been unable to discover, one in which he might well
believe himself safe from all attacks? Moreover, the dis-

THE EAGLE'S NEST 243

tance between Niagara Falls and this part of the Blueridge
Mountains, did not exceed four hundred and fifty miles, a
flight which would have been easy for the Terror.

Yes, this idea more and more took possession of me. It
crowded out a hundred other unsupported suggestions.
Did not this explain the nature of the bond which existed
between the Great Eyrie and the letter which I had received
with our commander's initials? And the threats against
me if I renewed the ascent! And the espionage to which
I had been subjected! And all the phenomena of which
the Great Eyrie had been the theater, were they not to be
attributed to this same cause — though what lay behind the
phenomena was not yet clear? Yes, the Great Eyrie!
The Great Eyrie !

But since it had been impossible for me to penetrate here,
would it not be equally impossible for me to get out again,
except upon the Terror? Ah, if the mists would but lift!
Perhaps I should recognize the place. What was as yet a
mere hypothesis, would become a starting point to act upon.

However, since I had freedom to move about, since
neither the captain nor his men paid any heed to me, I
resolved to explore the hollow. The three of them were all
in the grotto toward the north end of the oval. Therefore
I would commence my inspection at the southern end.

Reaching the rocky wall, I skirted along its base and
found it broken by many crevices; above, arose more solid
rocks of that feldspar of which the chain of the Alleghanies
largely consists. To what height the rock wall rose, or
what was the character of its summit, was still impossible
to see. I must wait until the sun had scattered the mists.

In the meantime, I continued to follow along the base
of the cliff. None of its cavities seemed to extend inward
to any distance. Several of them contained debris from
the hand of man, bits of broken wood, heaps of dried
grasses. On the ground were still to be seen the foot-
prints that the captain and his men must have left, perhaps
months before, upon the sand.

My jailers, being doubtless very busy in their cabin, did
not show themselves until they had arranged and packed
several large bundles. Did they purpose to carry those on
boardthe Terror? And were they packing up with the
intention of permanently leaving their retreat?

244 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

In half an hour my explorations were completed and I
returned toward the center. Here and there were heaped
up piles of ashes, bleached by weather. There were frag-
ments of burned planks and beams; posts to which clung
rusted iron-work; armatures of metal twisted by fire; all
the remnants of some intricate mechanism destroyed by the
flames.

Clearly at some period not very remote the hollow had
been the scene of a conflagration, accidental or intentional.
Naturally I connected this with the phenomena observed at
the Great Eyrie, the flames which rose above the crest, the
noises which had so frightened the people of Pleasant Gar-
den and Morganton. But of what mechanisms were these
the fragments, and what reason had our captain for de-
stroying them?

At this moment I felt a breath of air; a breeze came from
the east. The sky swiftly cleared. The hollow was filled
with light from the rays of the sun which appeared mid-
way between the horizon and the zenith.

A cry escaped me! The crest of the rocky wall rose
a hundred feet above me. And on the eastern side was re-
vealed that easily recognizable pinnacle, the rock like a
mounting eagle. It was the same that had held the atten-
tion of Mr. Elias Smith and myself, when we had looked
up at it from the outer side of the Great Eyrie.

Thus there was no further doubt. In its flight during
the night the airship had covered the distance between Lake
Erie and North Carolina. It was in the depth of this
Eyrie that the machine had found shelter! This was the
nest, worthy of the gigantic and powerful bird created by
the genius of our captain! The fortress whose mighty
walls none but he could scale! Perhaps even, he had dis-
covered in the depths of some cavern some subterranean
passage by which he himself could quit the Great Eyrie,
leaving the Terror safely sheltered within.

At last I saw it all ! This explained the first letter sent
me from the Great Eyrie itself with the threat of death.
If we had been able to penetrate into this hollow, who
knows if the secrets of the Master of the World might not
have been discovered before he had been able to set them be-
yond our reach?

I stood there, motionless ; my eyes fixed on that mounting

THE EAGLE'S NEST 245

eagle of stone, prey to a sudden, violent emotion. What-
soever might be the consequences to myself, was it not my
duty to destroy this machine, here and now, before it could
resume its menacing flight of mastery across the world!

Steps approached behind me. I turned. The inventor
stood by my side, and pausing looked me in the face.

I was unable to restrain myself; the words burst forth-^*
"The Great Eyrie! The Great Eyrie!"

"Yes, Inspector Strock."

" And you ! You are the Master of the World? "

"Of that world to which I have already proved myself
to be the most powerful of men."

" You ! " I reiterated, stupefied with amazement.

" I," responded he, drawing himself up in all his pride,
" I, Robur — Robur, the Conqueror ! "

CHAPTER XVI

ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR

Robur, the Conqueror! This then was the likeness I
had vaguely recalled. Some years before the portrait of
this extraordinary man had been printed in all the American
newspapers, under date of the thirteenth of Tune, the day
after this personage had made his sensational appearance
at the meeting of the Weldon Institute at Philadelphia.

I had noted the striking character of the portrait at the
time ; the square shoulders ; the back like a regular trapezoid,
its longer side formed by that geometrical shoulder line;
the robust neck; the enormous spheroidal head. The eyes
at the least emotion, burned with fire, while above them
were the heavy, permanently contracted brows, which
signalized such energy. The hair was short and crisp, with
a glitter as of metal in its lights. The huge breast rose
and fell like a blacksmith's forge ; and the thighs, the arms
and hands, were worthy of the mighty body. The narrow
beard was the same also, with the smooth shaven cheeks
which showed the powerful muscles of the jaw.

And this was Robur the Conqueror, who now stood
before me, who revealed himself to me, hurling forth his
name like a threat, within his own impenetrable fortress!

Let me recall briefly the facts which had previously;

246 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

drawn upon Robur the Conqueror the attention of the en-
tire world. The Weldon Institute was a club devoted to
aeronautics under the presidency of one of the chief per-
sonages of Philadelphia, commonly called Uncle Prudent.
Its secretary was Mr. Phillip Evans. The members of the
Institute were devoted to the theory of the " lighter than
air " machine ; and under their two leaders were construct-
ing an enormous dirigible balloon, the " Goahead."

At a meeting in which they were discussing the details
of the construction of their balloon, this unknown Robur
had suddenly appeared and, ridiculing all their plans, had
insisted that the only true solution of flight lay with the
heavier than air machines, and that he had proven this by
constructing one.

He was in his turn doubted and ridiculed bv the members
of the club, who called him in mockery Robur the Con-
queror. In the tumult that followed, revolver shots were
fired; and the intruder disappeared.

That same night he had by force abducted the president
and the secretary of the club, and had taken them, much
against their will upon a voyage in the wonderful air-ship
" the Albatross " which he had constructed. He meant
thus to prove to them beyond argument the correctness of
his assertions. This ship, a hundred feet long, was upheld
in the air by a large number of horizontal screws and was
driven forward by vertical screws at its bow and stern. It
was managed by a crew of at least half a dozen men, who
seemed absolutely devoted to their leader, Robur.

After a voyage almost completely around the world, Mr.
Prudent and Mr. Evans managed to escape from the " Al-
batross " after a desperate struggle. They even managed
to cause an explosion on the airship, destroying it, and in-
volving the inventor and all his crew in a terrific fall from
the sky into the Pacific ocean.

Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans then returned to Philadel-
phia. They had learned that the " Albatross " had been
constructed on an unknown isle of the Pacific called Is-
land X; but since the location of this hidingf-place was
wholly unknown, its discovery lay scarcely within the
bounds of possibility. Moreover, the search seemed en-
tirely unnecessary, as the vengeful prisoners were quite cer-
tain that they had destroyed their jailers.

ROBUR 247

Hence the two millionaires, restored to their homes, went
calmly on with the construction of their own machine, the
" Goahead." They hoped by means of it to soar once
more into the regions they had traversed with Robur, and
to prove to themselves that their lighter than air machine
was at least the equal of the heavy " Albatross." If they
had not persisted, they would not have been true Americans.

On the twentieth of April in the following year the " Go-
ahead " was finished and the ascent was made, from Fair-
mount Park in Philadelphia. I myself was there with
thousands of other spectators. We saw the huge balloon
rise gracefully; and, thanks to its powerful screws, it
maneuvered in every direction with surprising ease. Sud-
denly a cry was heard, a cry repeated from a thousand
throats. Another airship had appeared in the distant skies
and it now approached with marvelous rapidity. It was
another "Albatross," perhaps even superior to the first.
Robur and his men had escaped death in the Pacific; and,
burning for revenge, they had constructed a second airship
in their secret Island X.

Like a gigantic bird of prey, the " Albatross " hurled it-
self upon the " Goahead." Doubtless, Robur, while aveng-
ing himself wished also to prove the immeasurable super-
iority of the heavier than air machines.

Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans defended themselves as best
they could. Knowing that their balloon had nothing like
the horizontal speed of the "Albatross," they attempted
to take advantage of their superior lightness and rise above
her. The " Goahead," throwing out all her ballast, soared
to a height of over twenty thousand feet. Yet even there
the " Albatross " rose above her, and circled round her with
ease.

Suddenly an explosion was heard. The enormous gas-
bag of the " Goahead," expanding under the dilation of
its contents at this great height, had finally burst.

Half-emptied, the balloon fell rapidly.

Then to our universal astonishment, the "Albatross"
shot down after her rival, not to finish the work of de-
struction but to bring rescue. Yes! Robur, forgetting
his vengeance, rejoined the sinking "Goahead," and his
men lifted Mr. Prudent, Mr. Evans, and the aeronaut who
accompanied them, onto the platform of his craft. Then

248 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

the balloon, being at length entirely empty, fell to its de-
struction among the trees of Fairmount Park.

The public was overwhelmed with astonishment, with
fear ! Now that Robur had recaptured his prisoners, how
would he avenge himself? Would they be carried away,
this time, forever?

The " Albatross " continued to descend, as if to land in
the clearing at Fairmount Park. But if it came within
reach, would not the infuriated crowd throw themselves
upon the airship, tearing both it and its inventor to pieces?

The " Albatross " descended within six feet of the
ground. I remember well the general movement forward
with which the crowd threatened to attack it. Then
Robur's voice rang out in words which even now I can
repeat almost as he said them :

"Citizens of the United States, the president and the
secretary of the Weldon Institute are again in my power.
In holding them prisoners I would but be exercising my
natural right of reprisal for the injuries they have done me.
But the passion and resentment which have been roused
both in them and you by the success of the ' Albatross, '
show that the souls of men are not yet ready for the vast in-
crease of power which the conquest of the air will bring
to them. Uncle Prudent, Phillip Evans, you are free."

The three men rescued from the balloon leaped to the
ground. The airship rose some thirty feet out of reach,
and Robur recommenced :

" Citizens of the United States, the conquest of the air
is made; but it shall not be given into your hands until the
proper time. I leave, and I carry my secret with me. It
will not be lost to humanity, but shall be entrusted to them
when they have learned not to abuse it. Farewell, Citizens
of the United States!"

Then the Albatross rose under the impulse of its mighty
screws, and sped away amidst the hurrahs of the multitude.

I have ventured to remind my readers of this last scene
somewhat in detail, because it seemed to reveal the state
of mind of the remarkable personage who now stood before
me. Apparently he had not then been animated by senti-
ments hostile to humanity. He was content to await the
future; though his attitude undeniably revealed the im-
measurable confidence which he had in his own genius, the

ROBUR 249

immense pride which his almost superhuman powers had
aroused within him.

It was not astonishing, moreover, that this haughtiness
had little by little been aggravated to such a degree that he
now presumed to enslave the entire world, as his public let-
ter had suggested by its significant threats. His vehement
mind had with time been roused to such over-excitement
that he might easily be driven into the most violent excesses.

As to what had happened in the years since the last de-
parture of the Albatross, I could only partly reconstruct this
even with my present knowledge. It had not sufficed the
prodigious inventor to create a flying machine, perfect as
that was ! He had planned to construct a machine which
could conquer all the elements at once. Probably in the
workshops of Island X, a selected body of devoted work-
men had constructed, one by one, the pieces of this mar-
velous machine, with its quadruple transformation. Then
the second Albatross must have carried these pieces to the
Great Eyrie, where they had been put together, within
easier access of the world of men than the far-off island
had permitted. The Albatross itself had apparently been
destroyed, whether by accident or design, within the eyrie.
The Terror had then made its appearance on the roads
of the United States and in the neighboring waters. And
I have told under what conditions, after having been vainly
pursued across Lake Erie, this remarkable masterpiece had
risen through the air carrying me a prisoner on board.

CHAPTER XVII

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW

What was to be the issue of this remarkable adventure?
Could I bring it to any denouement whatever, either sooner
or later? Did not Robur hold the results wholly in his
own hands? Probably I would never have such an op-
portunity for escape as had occurred to Mr. Prudent and
Mr. Evans amid the islands of the Pacific. I could only
wait. And how long might the waiting last!

To be sure, my curiosity had been partly satisfied. But
even now I knew only the answer to the problems of the
Great Eyrie. Having at length penetrated its circle, I com-

25o THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

prehended all the phenomena observed by the people of the
Blueridge Mountains. I was assured that neither the coun-
try-folk throughout the region, nor the townfolk of Pleas-
ant Garden and Morganton were in danger of volcanic
eruptions or earthquakes. No subterranean forces what-
ever were battling within the bowels of the mountains.
No crater had arisen in this corner of the Alleghanies.
The Great Eyrie served merely as the retreat of Robur the
Conqueror. This impenetrable hiding-place where he
stored his materials and provisions, had without doubt been
discovered by him during one of his aerial voyages in the
Albatross. It was a retreat probably even more secure than
that as yet undiscovered Island X in the Pacific.

This much I knew of him; but of this marvelous ma-
chine of his, of the secrets of its construction and propelling:
force, what did I really know? Admitting that this mul-
tiple mechanism was driven by electricity, and that this
electricity was, as we knew it had been in the Albatross, ex-
tracted directly from the surrounding air by some new
process, what were the details of its mechanism? I had
not been permitted to see the engine; doubtless I should
never see it.

On the question of my liberty I argued thus: Robur evi-
dently intends to remain unknown. As to what he intends
to do with his machine, I fear, recalling his letter, that the
world must expect from it more of evil than of good. At
any rate, the incognito which he has so carefully guarded in
the past he must mean to preserve in the future. Now only
one man can establish the identity of the Master of the
World with Robur the Conqueror. This man is I his
prisoner, I who have the right to arrest him, I, who ought
to put my hand on his shoulder, saying, " In the Name of
the Law "

On the other hand, could I hope for a rescue from with-
out? Evidently not. The police authorities must know
everything that had happened at Black Rock Creek. Mr.
Ward, advised of all the incidents, would have reasoned on
the matter as follows: when the Terror quitted the creek
dragging me at the end of her hawser, I had either been
drowned or, since my body had not been recovered, I had
been taken on board the Terror, and was in the hands of
its commander.

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW 251

In the first case, there was nothing more to do than to
write " deceased " after the name of John Strock, chief in-
spector of the federal police in Washington.

In the second case, could my confreres hope ever to see
me again? The two destroyers which had pursued the
" Terror " into the Niagara River had stopped, perforce,
when the current threatened to drag them over the falls.
At that moment, night was closing in, and what could be
thought on board the destroyers but that the " Terror " had
been engulfed in the abyss of the cataract? It was scarce
possible that our machine had been seen when, amid the
shades of night, it rose above the Horseshoe Falls, or when
it winged its way high above the mountains on its route to
the Great Eyrie.

With regard to my own fate, should I resolve to question
Robur? Would he consent even to appear to hear me?
Was he not content with having hurled at me his name?
Would not that name seem to him to answer everything?

That day wore away without bringing the least change to
the situation. Robur and his men continued actively at
work upon the machine, which apparently needed consider-
able repair. I concluded that they meant to start forth
again very shortly, and to take me with them. It would,
however, have been quite possible to leave me at the bottom
of the Eyrie. There would have been no way by which I
could have escaped, and there were provisions at hand suffi-
cient to keep me alive for many days.

What I studied particularly during this period was the
mental state of Robur. He seemed to me under the
dominance of a continuous excitement. What was it that
his ever-seething brain now meditated? What projects was
he forming for the future? Toward what region would he
now turn? Would he put in execution the menaces ex-
pressed in his letter — the menaces of a madman !

The night of that first day, I slept on a couch of dry grass
in one of the grottoes of the Great Eyrie. Food was set
for me in this grotto each succeeding day. On the second
and third of August, the three men continued at their work,
scarcely once, however, exchanging any words, even in the
midst of their labors. When the engines were all repaired
to Robur's satisfaction, the men began putting stores aboard
their craft, as if expecting a long absence. Perhaps the

252 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

" Terror " was about to traverse immense distances ; per-
haps even, the captain intended to regain his Island X, in
the midst of the Pacific.

Sometimes I saw him wander about the eyrie buried in
thought, or he would stop and raise his arm toward heaven
as if in defiance of that God with Whom he assumed to
divide the empire of the world. Was not his overweening
pride leading him toward insanity? An insanity which his
two companions, hardly less excited than he, could do noth-
ing to subdue! Had he not come to regard himself as
mightier than the elements which he had so audaciously
defied even when he possessed only an airship, the Al-
batross? And now, how much more powerful had he be-
come, when earth, air and water combined to offer him an
infinite field where none might follow him!

Hence I had much to fear from the future, even the most
dread catastrophes. It was impossible for me to escape
from the Great Eyrie, before being dragged into a new
voyage. After that, how could I possibly get away while
the " Terror " sped through the air or the ocean? My only
chance must be when she crossed the land, and did so at
some moderate speed. Surely a distant and feeble hope to
cling to!

It will be recalled that after our arrival at the Great Eyrie,
I had attempted to obtain some response from Robur, as
to his purpose with me; but I had failed. On this last day
I made another attempt.

In the afternoon I walked up and down before the large
grotto where my captors were at work. Robur, standing
at the entrance, followed me steadily with his eyes. Did he
mean to address me?

I went' up to him. " Captain," said I, " I have already
asked you a question, which you have not answered. I ask
it again: What do you intend to do with me? "

We stood face to face scarce two steps apart. With arms
folded, he glared at me, and I was terrified by his glance.
Terrified, that is the word ! The glance was not that of a
sane man. Indeed, it seemed to reflect nothing whatever of
humanity within.

I repeated my question in a more challenging tone. For
an instant I thought that Robur would break his silence and
burst forth.

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW S53

" What do you intend to do with me ? Will you set me
free?"

Evidently my captor's mind was obsessed by some other
thought, from which I had only distracted him for a mo-
ment. He made again that gesture which I had already
observed; he raised one defiant arm toward the zenith. It
seemed to me as if some irresistible force drew him toward
those upper zones of the sky, that he belonged no more to
the earth, that he was destined to live in space, a perpetual
dweller in the clouds.

Without answering me, without seeming to have under-
stood me, Robur re-entered the grotto.

How long this sojourn or rather relaxation of the
" Terror " in the Great Eyrie was to last, I did not know.
I saw, however, on the afternoon of this third of August
that the repairs and the embarkation of stores were com-
pleted. The hold and lockers of our craft must have been
completely crowded with the provisions taken from the
grottoes of the Eyrie.

Then the chief of the two assistants, a man whom I now
recognized as that John Turner who had been mate of the
"Albatross," began another labor. With the help of his
companion, he dragged to the center of the hollow all that
remained of their materials, empty cases, fragments of car-
pentry, peculiar pieces of wood which clearly must have be-
longed to the " Albatross," which had been sacrificed to this
new and mightier engine of locomotion. Beneath this mass
there lay a great quantity of dried grasses. The thought
came to me that Robur was preparing to leave this retreat
forever !

In fact, he could not be ignorant that the attention of the
public was now keenly fixed upon the Great Eyrie; and
that some further attempt was likely to be made to penetrate
it. Must he not fear that some day or other the effort would
be successful, and that men would end by invading his hid-
ing-place ? Did he not wish that they should find there no
single evidence of his occupation?

The sun disappeared behind the crests of the Blueridge.
His rays now lighted only the very summit of Black Dome
towering in the northwest. Probably the " Terror "
awaited only the night in order to begin her flight. The
world did not yet know that the automobile and boat could

254 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

also transform itself into a flying machine. Until now, it
had never been seen in the air. And would not this fourth
transformation be carefully concealed, until the day when
the Master of the World chose to put into execution his in-
sensate menaces?

Toward nine o'clock profound obscurity enwrapped the
hollow. Not a star looked down on us. Heavy clouds
driven by a keen eastern wind covered the entire sky. The
passage of the " Terror " would be invisible, not only
in our immediate neighborhood, but probably across all the
American territory and even the adjoining seas.

At this moment Turner, approaching the huge stack in
the middle of the eyrie, set fire to the grass beneath.

The whole mass flared up at once. From the midst of a
dense smoke, the roaring flames rose to a height which tow-
ered above the walls of the Great Eyrie. Once more the
good folk of Morganton and Pleasant Garden would believe
that the crater had reopened. These flames would an-
nounce to them another volcanic upheaval.

I watched the conflagration. I heard the roarings and
cracklings which filled the air. From the deck of the
" Terror," Robur watched it also.

Turner and his companion pushed back into the fire the
fragments which the violence of the flames cast forth.
Little by little the huge bonfire grew less. The flames sank
down into a mere mass of burnt-out ashes; and once more
all was silence and blackest night.

Suddenly I felt myself seized by the arm. Turner drew
me toward the " Terror." Resistance would have been use-
less. And moreover what could be worse than to be aban-
doned without resources in this prison whose walls I could
not climb!

As soon as I set foot on the deck, Turner also embarked.
His companion went forward to the look-out; Turner
climbed down into the engine-room, lighted by electric bulbs,
from which not a gleam escaped outside.

Robur himself was at the helm, the regulator within
reach of his hand, so that he could control both our speed
and our direction. As to me, I was forced to descend into
my cabin, and the hatchway was fastened above me. Dur-
ing that night, as on that of our departure from Niagara,
I was not allowed to watch the movements of the " Terror."

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW 255

Nevertheless, if I could see nothing of what was passing
on board, I could hear the noises of the machinery. I had
first the feeling that our craft, its bow slightly raised, lost
contact with the earth. Some swerves and balancings in
the air followed. Then the turbines underneath spun with
prodigious rapidity, while the great wings beat with steady
regularity.

Thus the " Terror," probably forever, had left the Great
Eyrie, and launched into the air as a ship launches into the
waters. Our captain soared above the double chain of the
Alleghanies, and without doubt he would remain in the upper
zones of the air until he had left all the mountain region
behind.

But in what direction would he turn? Would he pass in
flight across the plains of North Carolina, seeking the At-
lantic Ocean? Or would he head to the west to reach the
Pacific? Perhaps he would seek, to the south, the waters
of the Gulf of Mexico. When day came how should I rec-
ognize which sea we were upon, if the horizon of water and
sky encircled us on every side?

Several hours passed ; and how long they seemed to me !
I made no effort to find forget fulness in sleep. Wild and
incoherent thoughts assailed me. I felt myself swept over
worlds of imagination, as I was swept through space, by an
aerial monster. At the speed which the " Terror " pos-
sessed, whither might I not be carried during this intermin-
able night? I recalled the unbelievable voyage of the " Al-
batross," of which the Weldon Institute had published an
account, as described by Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans.
What Robur, the Conqueror, had done with his first air-
ship, he could do even more readily with this quadruple
machine.

At length the first rays of daylight brightened my cabin.
Would I be permitted to go out now, to take my place upon
the deck, as I had done upon Lake Erie?

I pushed upon the hatchway : it opened. I came half way
out upon the deck.

All about was sky and sea. We floated in the air above an
ocean, at a height which I judged to be about a thousand or
twelve hundred feet. I could not see Robur, so he was
probably in the engine room. Turner was at the helm, his
companion on the look-out.

256 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

Now that I was upon the deck, I saw what I had not
been able to see during our former nocturnal voyage, the
action of those powerful wings which beat upon either side
at the same time that the screws spun beneath the flanks of
the machine.

By the position of the sun, as it slowly mounted from the
horizon, I realized that we were advancing toward the
south. Hence if this direction had not been changed during
the night this was the Gulf of Mexico which lay beneath us.

A hot day was announced by the heavy livid clouds which
clung to the horizon. These warnings of a coming storm
did not escape the eye of Robur when toward eight o'clock
he came on deck and took Turner's place at the helm. Per-
haps the cloud-bank recalled to him the waterspout in which
the " Albatross " had so nearly been destroyed, or the
mighty cyclone from which he had escaped only as if by a
miracle above the Antarctic Sea.

It is true that the forces of Nature which had been too
strong for the Albatross, might easily be evaded by this
lighter and more versatile machine. It could abandon the
sky where the elements were in battle and descend to the
surface of the sea; and if the waves beat against it there
too heavily, it could always find calm in the tranquil depths.

Doubtless, however, there were some signs by which
Robur, who must be experienced in judging, decided that
the storm would not burst until the next day.

He continued his flight; and in the afternoon, when we
settled down upon the surface of the sea, there was not a
sign of bad weather. The Terror is a sea bird, an alba-
tross or frigate-bird, which can rest at will upon the waves !
Only we have this advantage, that fatigue has never any
hold upon this metal organism, driven by the inexhausti-
ble electricity!

The whole vast ocean around us was empty. Not a sail
nor a trail of smoke was visible even on the limits of the
horizon. Hence our passage through the clouds had not
been seen and signaled ahead.

The afternoon was not marked by any incident. The
Terror advanced at easy speed. What her captain in-
tended to do, I could not guess. If he continued in this
direction, we should reach some one of the West Indies,
or beyond that, at the end of the Gulf, the shore of Ven-

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW %$%

ezuela or Colombia. But when night came, perhaps we
would again rise in the air to clear the mountainous bar-
rier of Guatemala and Nicaragua, and take flight toward
Island X, somewhere in the unknown regions of the Pa-
cific.

Evening came. The sun sank in an horizon red as
blood. The sea glistened around the Terror, which seemed
to raise a shower of sparks in its passage. There was a
storm at hand. Evidently our captain thought so. In-
stead of being allowed to remain on deck, I was compelled
to re-enter my cabin, and the hatchway was closed above me.

In a few moments from the noises that followed, I knew
that the machine was about to be submerged. In fact,
five minutes later, we were moving peacefully forward
through the ocean's depths.

Thoroughly worn out, less by fatigue than by excitement
and anxious thought, I fell into a profound sleep, natural
this time and not provoked by any soporific drug. When
I awoke, after a length of time which I could not
reckon, the Terror had not yet returned to the surface of
the sea.

This maneuver was executed a little later. The day-
light pierced my porthole; and at the same moment I felt
the pitching and tossing to which we were subjected by a
heavy sea.

I was allowed to take my place once more outside the
hatchway ; where my first thought was for the weather. A
storm was approaching from the northwest. Vivid light-
ning darted amid the dense, black clouds. Already we
could hear the rumbling of thunder echoing continuously
through space. I was surprised — more than surprised,
frightened! — by the rapidity with which the storm rushed
upward toward the zenith. Scarcely would a ship have
had time to furl her sails to escape the shock of the blast,
before it was upon her! The advance was as swift as it
was terrible.

Suddenly the wind was unchained with unheard of vio-
lence, as if it had suddenly burst from this prison of cloud.
In an instant a frightful sea uprose. The breaking waves,
foaming along all their crests, swept with their full weight
over the Terror. If I had not been wedged solidly against
the rail, I should have been swept overboard !

V. XIV Verne

258 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

There was but one thing to do — to change our machine
again into a submarine. It would find security and calm
at a few dozen feet beneath the surface. To continue to
brave the fury of this outrageous sea was impossible.

Robur himself was on deck, and I awaited the order to
return to my cabin — an order which was not given. There
was not even any preparation for the plunge. With an
eye more burning than ever, impassive before this fright-
ful storm, the captain looked it full in the face, as if to
defy it, knowing that he had nothing to fear.

It was imperative that the Terror should plunge below
without losing a moment. Yet Robur seemed to have no
thought of doing so. No! he preserved his haughty at-
titude as of a man who in his immeasurable pride, believed
himself above or beyond humanity.

Seeing him thus I asked myself, with almost supersti-
tious awe, if he were not indeed a demoniac being, escaped
from some supernatural world.

A cry leaped from his mouth, and was heard amid the
shrieks of the tempest and the howlings of the thunder.
" I, Robur ! Robur !— The Master of the World ! "

He made a gesture which Turner and his companions un-
derstood. It was a command; and without any hesitation
these unhappy men, insane as their master, obeyed it.

The great wings shot out, and the airship rose as it had
risen above the falls of Niagara. But if on that day it had
escaped the might of the cataract, this time it was amidst
the might of the hurricane that we attempted our insensate
flight.

The air-ship soared upward into the heart of the sky,
amid a thousand lightning flashes, surrounded and shaken
by the bursts of thunder. It steered amid the blinding,
darting lights, courting destruction at every instant.

Robur's position and attitude did not change. With one
hand on the helm, the other on the speed regulator, while
the great wings beat furiously, he headed his machine to-
ward the very center of the storm, where the electric flashes
were leaping from cloud to cloud.

I must throw myself upon this madman to prevent him
from driving his machine into the very middle of this aerial
furnace! I must compel him to descend, to seek beneath
the waters, a safety which was no longer possible either

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW 259

upon the surface of the sea or in the sky! Beneath, we
could wait until this frightful outburst of the elements
was at an end !

Then amid this wild excitement my own passions, all
my instincts of duty, arose within me! Yes, this was mad-
ness ! Yet must I not arrest this criminal whom my coun-
try had outlawed, who threatened the entire world with
his terrible invention? Must I not put my hand on his
shoulder and summon him to surrender to justice! Was
I or was I not Strock, chief inspector of the federal police?
Forgetting where I was, one against three, uplifted in mid-
sky above a howling ocean, I leaped toward the stern, and
in a voice which rose above the tempest, I cried as I hurled
myself upon Robur:

" In the name of the law, I "

Suddenly the Terror trembled as if from a violent shock.
All her frame quivered, as the human frame quivers under
the electric fluid. Struck by the lightning in the very mid-
dle of her powerful batteries, the air-ship spread out on
all sides and went to pieces.

With her wings fallen, her screws broken, with bolt after
bolt of the lightning darting amid her ruins, the Terror
fell from the height of more than a thousand feet into the
ocean beneath.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE OLD HOUSEKEEPER'S LAST COMMENT

When I came to myself, after having been unconscious
for many hours, a group of sailors whose care had restored
me to life surrounded the door of a cabin in which I lay.
By my pillow sat an officer who questioned me; and as
my senses slowly returned, I answered to his questioning.

I told them everything. Yes, everything! And as-
suredly my listeners must have thought that they had upon
their hands an unfortunate whose reason had not returned
with his consciousness.

I was on board the steamer Ottawa, in the Gulf of Mex-
ico, headed for the port of New Orleans. This ship, while
flying before the same terrific thunder-storm which de-
stroyed the Terror, had encountered some wreckage,

260 THE MASTER OF THE WORLD

among whose fragments was entangled my helpless body.

Thus I found myself back among humankind once more,
while Robur the Conqueror and his two companions had
ended their adventurous careers in the waters of the Gulf.
The Master of the World had disappeared forever, struck
down by those thunder-bolts which he had dared to brave
in the regions of their fullest power. He carried with
him the secret of his extraordinary machine.

Five days later the Ottawa sighted the shores of Louisi-
ana; and on the morning of the tenth of August she reached
her port. After taking a warm leave of my rescuers, I set
out at once by train for Washington, which more than
once I had despaired of ever seeing again.

I went first of all to the bureau of police, meaning to
make my earliest appearance before Mr. Ward.

What was the surprise, the stupefaction, and also the joy
of my chief, when the door of his cabinet opened before
me! Had he not every reason to believe, from the report
of my companions, that I had perished in the waters of
Lake Erie?

I informed him of all my experiences since I had disap-
peared, the pursuit of the destroyers on the lake, the soaring
of the Terror from amid Niagara Falls, the halt within
the crater of the Great Eyrie, and the catastrophe, during
the storm, above the Gulf of Mexico.

He learned for the first time that the machine created by
the genius .of this Robur, could traverse space, as it did
the earth and the sea.

In truth, did not the possession of so complete and mar-
velous a machine justify the name of Master of the World,
which Robur had taken to himself? Certain it is that the
comfort and even the lives of the public must have been
forever in danger from him; and that all methods of de-
fence must have been feeble and ineffective.

But the pride which I had seen rising bit by bit within
the heart of this prodigious man had driven him to give
equal battle to the most terrible of all the elements. It
was a miracle that I had escaped safe and sound from that
frightful catastrophe.

Mr. Ward could scarcely believe my story. " Well, my
dear Strock," said he at last, " you have come back ; and
that is the main thing. Next to this notorious Robur, you

THE LAST COMMENT 261

will be the man of the hour. I hope that your head will
not be turned with vanity, like that of this crazy inven-
tor!"

" No, Mr. Ward," I responded, " but you will agree with
me that never was inquisitive man put to greater straits to
satisfy his curiosity."

" I agree, Strock; and the mysteries of the Great Eyrie,
the transformations of the Terror, you have discovered
them! But unfortunately, the still greater secrets of this
Master of the World have perished with him."

The same evening the newspapers published an account
of my adventures, the truthfulness of which could not be
doubted. Then, as Mr. Ward had prophesied, I was the
man of the hour.

One of the papers said, " Thanks to Inspector Strock,
the American police still lead the world. While others
have accomplished their work, with more or less success,
by land and by sea, the American police hurl themselves in
pursuit of criminals through the depths of lakes and oceans
and even through the sky."

Yet, in following, as I have told, in pursuit of the Ter-
ror, had I done anything more than by the close of the
present century will have become the regular duty of my
successors ?

It is easy to imagine what a welcome my old housekeeper
gave me when I entered my house in Long Street. When
my apparition — does not the word seem just — stood be-
fore her, I feared for a moment she would drop dead, poor
woman ! Then, after hearing my story, with eyes stream-
ing with tears, she thanked Providence for having saved
me from so many perils.

"Now, sir," said she, "now — was I wrong? "

" Wrong? About what ? "

" In saying that the Great Eyrie was the home of the
devil?"

"Nonsense; this Robur was not the devil!"

" Ah, well ! " replied the old woman, " he was worthy of
being so ! "

THE END.

The Sphinx of Ice

OR

An Antarctic Mystery

The Sphinx of Ice

CHAPTER I

AN OCEAN WAIF

0 doubt the following narrative will be re-
ceived with entire incredulity, but I think it
well that the public should be put in posses-
sion of the facts narrated in " An Antarctic
Mystery." The public is free to believe them
or not, at its good pleasure.
I am a Connecticut naturalist possessed of a small inde-
pendent fortune. In the year 1839 I was engaged in re-
search work among the islands of the far southern ocean.
Chance brought me aboard the English trading brig Hal-
brane, whose captain, Len Guy, was at first most unwilling
to receive me; for, as he most mysteriously declared, he
could never tell to what region he might suddenly turn his
ship. An accidental reference of mine to my favorite
author Poe, suddenly roused Captain Guy's equal enthu-
siasm, and we became fast friends upon this common
ground.

Not, however, till I had been two weeks upon his ship,
did he more fully explain to me his strange interest in the
great American author. Among Poe's most remarkable
works is his tale of the Antarctic seas called " The Adven-
tures of Arthur Gordon Pym." I had always supposed the
story to be pure fiction of the most fantastic sort ; but Cap-
tain Len Guy assured me that it must be at least founded
upon fact, for the sea-captain it described, William Guy,
had been his own brother, who with his ship the Jane had
disappeared in these waters about the time of Poe's narra-
tive.

Briefly summarized, the narrative of Arthur Gordon
Pym tells how Pym, after many disastrous adventures was
left with only one companion, a half-breed Indian, Dirk
Peters, as survivors on a shipwrecked bark. In their ex-
termity they had even been driven to cannibalism, Dirk
Peters having slain one unfortunate companion upon whom
the death lot had fallen. Pym and the half breed were at
last rescued by Captain William Guy and sailed with him

265

266 THE SPHINX OF ICE

into the far south. By some chance, fortunate or unfor-
tunate, they found a gap in the great southern ice barrier
which, surrounding the South Pole, usually bars all further
advance at about 73 ° south. Piercing the ice barrier the
bold explorers found an open sea, then a barren isle which
they named Bennet Isle, and then a fairly fertile and popu-
lous island, called by its inhabitants, Tsalal.

At Tsalal, according to Pym's narrative, Captain Guy
and his party were hospitably received, and taken to a rude
city, Klock-Klock. After all suspicion had been allayed
the Captain and most of his men were decoyed under an
artificial landslide, and perished, while the ship, the Jane,
assaulted by thousands of natives, blew up with all on
board. The natives, seized with superstitious terror, then
fled with a peculiar cry which they had always seemed to
associate with some unspeakable threatening doom, " Te-
keli-li ! Tekeli-li."

Pym and Peters had been accidentally separated from
their companions at the time of the disaster, and believing
that they alone had escaped, they seized a native boat and
carrying a terrified native with them, fled. The currents
swept them still southward, amid scenes of mist and dark-
ness and horror. Their captive, unable to stop them from
advancing, died of sheer fright, crying " Tekeli-li ! " The
whole ocean seemed rushing southward, a cataract seemed
opening in the deep, the boat clashed against an iceberg
and Peters was hurled overboard. At the same moment
Pym saw before him a huge sphinxlike figure, white, hu-
man, mountainous.

There the story ends. But Poe represents Pym and Pe-
ters as both having regained their American homes, where
Pym communicated the tale to him and then suddenly mys-
teriously perished.

Now if this tale seems weird and startling even as fiction,
imagine how it affected me anew when Captain Len Guy
vouched for the accuracy of at least his brother's connec-
tion with it ! Imagine how it must have affected my friend
Guy. He told me that at once on reading it he had tried
to reach Mr. Poe for further knowledge and had failed.
Pym also he could get no trace of. Dirk Peters he fol-
lowed to the half breed's Illinois home, only to learn that
the man had indeed returned there, had talked vaguely of

AN OCEAN WAIF 267

tragic experiences in the Antartic and then disappeared
again. Whither, no man knew.

It was on the third of September that Captain Len Guy-
told me this strange tale; we were sliding smoothly over
the surface of an undulating sea. The Halbrane resem-
bled an enormous bird, one of the gigantic albatross kind
described by Arthur Pym — which had spread its sail-like
wings, and was carrying a whole ship's crew towards
space.

James West, our capable lieutenant, was looking out
through his glasses to starboard at an object floating two
or three miles away, and several sailors, hanging over the
side, were also curiously observing it.

I went forward and looked attentively at the object.
It was an irregular formed mass about twelve yards in
length, and in the middle of it there appeared a shining
lump.

" That is no whale," said Martin Holt, the sailing-master.
" It would have blown once or twice since we have been
looking at it."

"Certainly!" assented Hurliguerly the boatswain.
" Perhaps it is the carcase of some deserted ship."

" May the devil send it to the bottom ! " cried Martin.
" It would be a bad job to come up against it in the dark;
it might send us down before we could know what had
happened."

" What do you really think of it, boatswain? " I asked.

" It is my opinion, Mr. Jeorling." replied the boatswain,
" that what we see there is neither a blower nor a wreck,
but merely a lump of ice."

"Hurliguerly is right," said James West; " it is a lump
of ice, a piece of an iceberg which the currents have carried
hither."

" What? " said I, " to the forty-fifth parallel? "

" Yes, sir," answered West, " that has occurred, and the
ice sometimes gets up as high as the Cape, if we are to take
the word of a French navigator, Captain Blosseville, who
met one at this height in 1828."

" Then this mass must melt before long," I observed,
feeling not a little surprised that the usually silent West
had honored me by so lengthy a reply.

" It must indeed be dissolved in great part already," he

268 THE SPHINX OF ICE

continued, " and what we see is the remains of a mountain
of ice which must have weighed millions of tons."

Captain Len Guy now appeared, and perceiving the group
of sailors around West, came forward. A few words
were exchanged in a low tone between the captain and the
lieutenant, and the latter passed his glass to the former,
who turned it upon the floating object, now at least a mile
nearer to us.

" It is ice," said he, " and it is lucky that it is dissolving!
The Halbrane might have come to serious grief by collision
with it in the night."

I was struck by the fixity of his gaze upon the object,
whose nature he had so promptly declared: he continued
to contemplate it for several minutes, and I guessed what
was passing in the mind of the man under the obsession of
a fixed idea. This fragment of ice, torn from the southern
icebergs, came from those waters wherein his thoughts
continually ranged. He wanted to see it more near, per-
haps at close quarters, it might be to take away some bits
of it. At an order from West the schooner was directed
towards the floating mass; presently we were within two
cables'-length, and I could examine it.

The mound in the center was melting rapidly; before
the end of the day nothing would remain of the fragment
of ice which had been carried by the currents so high up as
the forty-fifth parallel.

Captain Len Guy gazed at it steadily, but he now needed
no glass, and presently we all began to distinguish a second
object which little by little detached itself from the mass,
according as the melting process went on — a black shape,
stretched on the white ice.

What was our surprise, mingled with horror, when we
saw first an arm, then a leg, then a trunk, then a head ap-
pear, forming a human body, not in a state of nakedness,
but clothed in dark garments. For a moment I even
thought that the limbs moved, that the hands were stretched
towards us.

The crew uttered a simultaneous cry. No! this body
was not moving, but it was slowly slipping off the icy sur-
face.

I looked at Captain Len Guy. His face was as livid as
that of the corpse that had drifted down from the far lati-

AN OCEAN WAIF 269

tudes of the austral zone. What could be done was done
to recover the body of the unfortunate man, and who can
tell whether a faint breath of life did not animate it even
then? In any case his pockets might perhaps contain some
document that would enable his identity to be established.
Then, accompanied by a last prayer, those human remains
should be committed to the depths of the ocean, the ceme-
tery of sailors who die at sea.

A boat was let down. I followed it with my eyes as it
neared the side of the ice fragment eaten by the waves.

Hurliguerly set foot upon a spot which still offered
some resistance. He crept along the ice until he reached
the corpse, then drew it to him by the arms and legs and
so got it into the boat. A few strokes of the oars and the
boatswain had rejoined the schooner. The corpse, com-
pletely frozen, having been laid at the foot of the mizzen
mast, Captain Len Guy approached and examined it long
and closely, as though he sought to recognize it.

It was the corpse of a sailor, dressed in coarse stuff,
woolen trousers and a patched jersey; a belt encircled his
waist twice. His death had evidently occurred some
months previously, probably very soon after the unfortu-
nate man had been carried away by the drift. He was
about forty, with slightly grizzled hair, a mere skeleton
covered with skin. He must have suffered agonies of
hunger.

Captain Len Guy lifted up the hair, which had been
preserved by the cold, raised the head, gazed upon the
scaled eyelids, and finally said with a sort of sob:

" Patterson ! Patterson ! "

"Patterson?" I exclaimed.

The name, common as it was, touched some chord in
my memory. When had I heard it uttered? Had I read
it anywhere?

At this moment, James West, on a hint from the boat-
swain, searched the pockets of the dead man, and took out
of them a knife, some string, an empty tobacco box, and
lastly a leather pocket-book furnished with a metallic pen-
cil.

" Give me that," said the captain. Some of the leaves
were covered with writing, almost entirely effaced by the
damp. He found, however, some words on the last page

27o THE SPHINX OF ICE

which were still legible, and my emotion may be imagined
when I heard him read aloud in a trembling voice:
"The Jane . . . Tsalal island ... by eighty-
three . . . There . . . eleven years . . . cap-
tain . . . five sailors surviving . . . Hasten to
bring them aid."

And under these lines was a name, a signature, the name
of Patterson !

Then I remembered! Patterson was the second officer
of the Jane, the mate of the schooner which had picked up
Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters on the wreck of the Grampus,
the Jane which reached Tsalal Island ; the Jane which was
attacked by natives and blown up in the midst of those
waters.

So then it was all true? Edgar Poe's work was that of
an historian, not a writer of romance? Arthur Gordon
Pym's journal had actually been confided to him! Direct
relations had been established between them! Arthur
Pym existed, or rather he had existed, he was a real being !
And he had died, by a sudden and deplorable death under
circumstances not revealed before he had completed the
narrative of his extraordinary voyage ! And what parallel
had he reached on leaving Tsalal Island with his compan-
ion, Dirk Peters, and how had both of them been restored
to their native land, America?

I thought my head was turning, that I was going mad —
I who had almost accused Captain Guy of being insane!
No! I had not heard aright! I had misunderstood!
This was a mere phantom of my fancy !

And yet, how was I to reject the evidence found on the
body of the mate of the Jane, that Patterson whose words
were supported by ascertained dates? And above all, how
could I retain a doubt, after James West, who was the
most self-possessed amongst us, had succeeded in decipher-
ing the following fragments of sentences :

"Drifting since the 3rd of June north of Tsalal Island.
. . . Still there . . . Captain William Guy and
five of the men of the Jane — the piece of ice I am on is
drifting across the iceberg . . . food will soon fail
me. . . . Since the 13th of June ... my last
resources exhausted . . . to-day . . . 16th of
June ... I am going to die."

AN OCEAN WAIF 271

So then for nearly three months Patterson's body had
lain on the surface of this ice-waif which we had met on
our way from the Kerguelens to Tristan d'Acunha! Ah!
why had we not saved the mate of the Jane!

I had to yield to evidence. Captain Len Guy, who knew
Patterson, had recognized him in this frozen corpse ! Yes !
for eleven years, the survivors of the English schooner had
been cast away there without any hope of succor.

Len Guy turned to me and said, "Do you believe —
now? "

" I believe," said I, falteringly.

Then we turned our eyes once more to the place where
the lump of ice had been floating; but the double influence
of the solar rays and the waters in this latitude had pro-
duced its effect, no trace of the dead man's last refuge
remained on the surface of the sea.

CHAPTER II

TO THE POLAR CIRCLE

And now, what was Captain Len Guy going to do?
There was not a shadow of doubt on that point. He
would take the Halbrane to Tsalal Island, as marked upon
Patterson's note-book. His lieutenant, James West, would
go whithersoever he was ordered to go; his crew would
not hesitate to follow him, and would not be stopped by
any fear of passing the limits assigned to human power,
for the soul of their captain and the strength of their lieu-
tenant would be in them.

This, then, was the reason why Captain Len Guy refused
to take passengers on board his ship, and why he had told
me that his routes never were certain; he was always hop-
ing that an opportunity for venturing into the sea of ice
might arise.

" I wish to ask you, Mr. Jeorling," said he upon the first
opportunity, "whether you think everything in Arthur
Pym's journal, which has been published by Edgar Poe,
is exactly true ? "

"I think there is some need for doubt," I answered;
"the singular character of the hero of those adventures
being taken into consideration — at least concerning the

272 THE SPHINX OF ICE

phenomena of the island of Tsalal. And we know that
Arthur Pym was mistaken in asserting that Captain Wil-
liam Guy and several of his companions perished in the
landslide of the hill at Klock-Klock."

"Ah! but he does not assert this, Mr. Jeorling! He
says only that, when he and Dirk Peters had reached the
opening through which they could discern the surrounding
country, the seat of the artificial earthquake was revealed
to them. Now, as the whole face of the hill was rushing
into the ravine, the fate of my brother and twenty-nine of
his men could not be doubtful to his mind. He was, most
naturally, led to believe that Dirk Peters and himself were
the only white men remaining alive on the island. He
said nothing but this — nothing more. These were only
suppositions — very reasonable, are they not? "

" I admit that, fully, captain."

" But now, thanks to Patterson's note-book, we are cer-
tain that my brother and five of his companions escaped
from the landslide contrived by the natives."

" That is quite clear, captain. But, as to what became
of the survivors of the Jane, whether they were taken by
the natives of Tsalal and kept in captivity, or remained
free, Patterson's note-book says nothing, nor does it relate
under what circumstances he himself was carried far away
from them."

" All that we shall learn, Mr. Jeorling. Yes, we shall
know all. The main point is that we are quite sure my
brother and five of his sailors were living less than four
months ago on some part of Tsalal Island. There is now
no question of a romance signed ' Edgar Poe,' but of a
veracious narrative signed ' Patterson.' "

" Captain," said I, " will you let me be one of your com-
pany until the end of the campaign of the Halbrane in the
Antarctic seas?"

Captain Len Guy looked at me with a glance as pene-
trating as a keen blade. Otherwise he did not appear sur-
prised by the proposal I had made; perhaps he had been
expecting it — and he uttered only the single word :

" Willingly."

Extra hands were necessary for so bold a venture, as
the savages of Tsalal must perhaps be fought. These we
gathered at Port Egmond in the Falkland Isles. Our

TO THE POLAR CIRCLE 273

original number all told had been thirteen, the captain, his
able lieutenant James West, the shrewd gossipy boatswain
Hurliguerly, Martin Holt the sailing master, Endicott the
colored cook, and seven trusty seamen. Now we added
twenty more, bold spirits attracted by our story and the
offer of double pay to penetrate to the unknown Tsalal.

Provisions and stores were put aboard to last if need be
for two years. As to the expense I arranged with Cap-
tain Guy that I was to be an equal partner in the cost and
in the possible profits of the voyage.

Of the new men, able as they all were, only two need
special notice. Hearne a harpooner, a rough violent man
but a noted hunter of whales and seals, was one. The
other was a strange, silent fellow called Hunt who appeared
aboard the night before our leaving, and fairly insisted
upon joining us.

This Hunt was a man of short stature, his weather-
beaten face was brick red, his skin of a yellowish-brown
like an Indian's, his body clumsy, his head very large, his
legs were bowed, his whole frame denoted exceptional
strength, especially the arms, which terminated in huge
hands. His grizzled hair resembled a kind of fur.

A particular and anything but prepossessing character
was imparted to his physiognomy by the extraordinary
keenness of his small eyes, his almost lipless mouth, which
stretched from ear to ear, and his long teeth, which were
dazzlingly white ; their enamel being intact, for he had never
been attacked by scurvy, the common scourge of seamen
in high latitudes.

. Hunt had been living in the Falklands for three years ;
he lived alone on a pension, no one knew from whence
this was derived. He was singularly uncommunicative,
and passed his time in fishing, by which he might have
lived, not only as a matter of sustenance, but as an article
of commerce.

The information gained by Captain Len Guy was neces-
sarily incomplete, as it was confined to Hunt's conduct
during his residence at Port Egmont. The man did not
fight, he did not drink, and he had given many proofs of
his Herculean strength. Concerning his past nothing was
known, but undoubtedly he had been a sailor. He said
more to Len Guy than he had ever said to anybody at

V. XIV Verne

274 THE SPHINX OF ICE

Falkland ; but he kept silence respecting the family to which
he belonged, and the place of his birth. This was of no
importance; that he should prove to be a good sailor was
all we had to think about.

From the Falklands, we proceeded to the South Orkney
Islands. And thence, on the 26th of November, 1839, we
headed south along the forty-third meridian in the Atlan-
tic. This route it was that the explorer Weddell and then
William Guy had followed, and, provided the schooner did
not deflect either to the east or the west, she must inevitably
come to Tsalal Island. The difficulties of navigation had
to be taken into account, of course.

The wind, continuing to blow steadily from the west,
was in our favor, and if the present speed of the Halbrane
could be maintained, as I ventured to suggest to Captain
Len Guy, the voyage from the South Orkneys to the Polar
Circle would be a short one. Beyond, as I knew, we
should have to force the gate of the thick barrier of ice-
bergs, or to discover a breach in that ice-fortress.

" So that, in less than a month, captain- " I sug-
gested, tentatively.

" In less than a month I hope to have found the iceless
sea which Weddell and Arthur Pym describe so fully, be-
yond the ice-wall, and thenceforth we need only sail on
under ordinary conditions to Bennet Island in the first
place, and afterwards to Tsalal Island. Once on that
* wide open sea,' what obstacle could arrest or even retard
our progress? "

" I can foresee none, captain, so soon as we shall get to
the back of the ice- wall. The passage through is the diffi-
cult point; it must be our chief source of anxiety, and if
only the wind holds "

" It will hold, Mr. Jeorling. All the navigators of the
austral seas have been able to ascertain, as I myself have
done, the permanence of this wind."

" That is true, and I rejoice in the assurance, captain.
Besides, I acknowledge, without shrinking from the ad-
mission, that I am beginning to be superstitious."

" And why not, Mr. Jeorling ? What is there unrea-
sonable in admitting the intervention of a supernatural
power in the most ordinary circumstances of life? And
we, who sail the Halbrane, should we venture to doubt it?

TO THE POLAR CIRCLE 275

Recall to your mind our meeting with the unfortunate
Patterson on our ship's course, the fragment of ice car-
ried into the waters where we were, and dissolved imme-
diately afterwards. Were not these facts providential?
Nay, I go farther still, and am sure that, after having done
so much to guide us towards our compatriots, God will
not abandon us "

" I think as you think, captain. No, His intervention
is not to be denied, and I do not believe that chance plays
the part assigned to it by superficial minds upon the stage
of human life. All the facts are united by a mysterious
chain."

" A chain, Mr. Jeorling, whose first link, so far as we are
concerned, is Patterson's ice-block, and whose last will be
Tsalal Island. Ah! My brother! my poor brother!
Left there for eleven years, with his companions in mis-
ery, without being able to entertain the hope that succor
ever could reach them! And Patterson carried far away
from them, under we know not what conditions, they not
knowing what had become of him! If my heart is sick
when I think of these catastrophes, Mr. Jeorling, at least it
will not fail me unless it be at the moment when my
brother throws himself into my arms."

So then we two were agreed in our trust in Providence.
It had been made plain to us in a manifest fashion that
God had entrusted us with a mission, and we would do all
that might be humanly possible to accomplish it.

The schooner's crew, I ought to mention, were animated
by the like sentiments, and shared the same hopes. I al-
lude to the original seamen who were so devoted to their
captain. As for the new ones, they were probably indiffer-
ent to the result of the enterprise, provided it should secure
the profits promised to them by their engagement.

At least, I was assured by the boatswain that such was
the case, but with the exception of Hunt. This man had
apparently not been induced to take service by the bribe
of high wages or prize money. He was absolutely silent
on that and every other subject.

" If he does not speak to you, boatswain," I said,
"neither does he speak to me."

" Do you know, Mr. Jeorling, what it is my notion that
man has already done?"

276 THE SPHINX OF ICE

" Tell me, Hurliguerly."

"Well, then, I believe he has gone far, far into the
southern seas, let him be as dumb as a fish about it. Why
he is dumb is his own affair. But if that sea-hog of a man
has not been inside the Antarctic Circle and even the ice
wall by a good dozen degrees, may the first sea we ship
carry me overboard."

"From what do you judge, boatswain?"

" From his eyes, Mr. Jeorling, from his eyes. No mat-
ter at what moment, let the ship's head be as it may, those
eyes of his are always on the south, open, unwinking,
fixed like guns in position."

Hurliguerly did not exaggerate, and I had already re-
marked this. To employ an expression of Edgar Poe's,
Hunt had eyes like a falcon's.

" When he is not on the watch," resumed the boatswain,
" that savage leans all the time with his elbows on the
side, as motionless as he is mute. His right place would
be at the end of our bow, where he would do for a figure-
head to the Halbrane, and a very ugly one at that! And
then, when he is at the helm, Mr. Jeorling, just observe
him! His enormous hands clutch the handles as though
they were fastened to the wheel; he gazes at the binnacle
as though the magnet of the compass were drawing his
eyes. I pride myself on being a good steersman, but as
for being the equal of Hunt, I'm not! With him, not for
an instant does the needle vary from the sailing-line, how-
ever rough a lurch she may give. I am sure that if the
binnacle lamp were to go out in the night Hunt would not
require to relight it. The fire in his eyes would light up
the dial and keep him right."

For several days our navigation went on in unbroken
monotony, without a single incident, and under favorable
conditions. The spring season was advancing, and whales
began to make their appearance in large numbers. In
these waters a week would suffice for ships of heavy ton-
nage to fill their casks with the precious oil. Thus the
new men of the crew, and especially the Americans, did
not conceal their regret for the captain's indifference in
the presence of so many animals worth their weight in
gold, and more abundant than they had ever seen whales
at that period of the year. The leading malcontent was

TO THE POLAR CIRCLE 27-j

Hearne, the sealing-master, to whom his companions were
ready to listen. He had found it easy to get the upper
hand of the other sailors by his rough manner and the
surly audacity that was expressed by his whole personality.
Hearne was an American, and forty-five years of age. He
was an active, vigorous man, and I could see him in my
mind's eye, standing up on his double bowed whaling-boat
brandishing the harpoon, darting it into the flank of a
whale, and paying out the rope. He must have been fine
to see. Granted his passion for this business, I could
not be surprised that his discontent showed itself upon
occasion.

In any case, however, our schooner was not fitted out
for fishing, and the implements of whaling were not on
board.

One day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, I had
gone forward to watch the gambols of a " school " of the
huge sea mammals. Hearne was pointing them out to his
companions, and muttering in disjoined phrases :

"There, look there! That's a fin-back! There's an-
other, and another; three of them with their dorsal fins
five or six feet high. Just see them swimming between
two waves, quietly, making no jumps. Ah! if I had a
harpoon, I bet my head that I could send it into one of the
four yellow spots they have on their bodies. But there's
nothing to be done in this traffic-box; one cannot stretch
one's arms. Devil take it! In these seas it is fishing we
ought to be at, not "

" Hearne," said West's imperious voice, " go up to the
maintop. You will be more at your ease there to reckon
the whales."

" But, sir "

" No reply, or I'll keep you up there until to-morrow.
Come — be off at once."

And as he would have got the worst of an attempt at
resistance, the sealing-master obeyed in silence.

CHAPTER III

TO THE ICE WALL

Since the Halbrane has passed beyond the imaginary
curve drawn at twenty-three and a half degrees from the
Pole, it seems as though she had entered a new region,
" that region of Desolation and Silence," as Edgar Poe
says; that magic essence of splendor and glory in which
the Eleanora's singer longed to be shut up to all eternity;
that immense ocean of light ineffable.

It is my belief — to return to less fanciful hypotheses—
that the Antarctic region, with a superficies of more than
five millions of square miles, has remained what our
spheroid was during the glacial period. In the summer,
the southern zone, as we all know, enjoys perpetual day,
owing to the rays projected by the orb of light above its
horizon in his spiral ascent. Then, so soon as he has
disappeared, the long night sets in, a night which is fre-
quently illumined by the polar aurora or Northern Lights.

It was then in the season of light that our schooner was
about to sail in these formidable regions. The permanent
brightness would not fail us before we should have reached
Tsalal Island, where we felt no doubt of finding the men
of the Jane.

When Captain Len Guy, West, and the old sailors of
the crew learned that the schooner had cleared the sixty-
sixth parallel of latitude, their rough and sunburnt faces
shone with satisfaction. The temperature had fallen
rapidly, and hail, rain, and snow thickened and darkened
the air. At ten o'clock in the evening — I must use this
word, although the sun remained always above the horizon
— the tempest increased, and the captain and his lieutenant,
almost unable to hear other's voices amid the elemental
strife, communicated mostly by gestures, which is as good
a mode as speech between sailors.

I could not make up my mind to retire to my cabin, and,
seeking the shelter of the roundhouse, I remained on deck,
observing the weather phenomena, and the skill, certainty,
celerity, and effect with which the crew carried out the
orders of the captain and West. It was a strange and
terrible experience for a landsman, even one who had seen
so much of the sea and seamanship as I had. At the
moment of a certain difficult maneuver, four men had to

278

TO THE ICE WALL 279,

climb to the crossbars of the fore-mast in order to reef
the mainsail. The first who sprang to the ratlines was
Hunt. The second was Martin Holt. I could not have
believed that any man could display such skill and agility as
Hunt. His hands and feet hardly caught the ratlines.
Having reached the crossbars first, he stretched himself on
the ropes to the end of the yard, while Holt went to the
other end, and the two recruits remained in the middle.

While the men were working, and the tempest was
raging round us, a terrific lurch of the ship to starboard
under the stroke of a mountainous wave, flung everything
on the deck into wild confusion, and the sea rushed in
through the scupper-holes. I was knocked down, and for
some moments was unable to rise.

So great had been the incline of the schooner that the
end of the yard of the mainsail was plunged three or four
feet into the crest of a wave. When it emerged Martin
Holt, who had been astride on it, had disappeared. A cry
was heard, uttered by the sailing-master, whose arm could
be seen wildly waving amid the whiteness of the foam.
The sailors rushed to the side and flung out one a rope,
another a cask, a third a spar — in short, any object of
which Martin Holt might lay hold. At the moment when
I struggled up to my feet I caught sight of a massive sub-
stance which cleft the air and vanished in the whirl of the
waves.

Was this a second accident? No! it was a voluntary
action, a deed of self-sacrifice. Having finished his task,
Hunt had thrown himself into the sea, that he might save
Martin Holt.

" Two men overboard ! "

Yes, two — one to save the other. And were they not
about to perish together?

The two heads rose to the foaming surface of the water.
Hunt was swimming vigorously, cutting through the waves,
and was nearing Martin Holt.

"They are lost! both lost!" exclaimed the captain,
" The boat, West, the boat! "

" If you give the order to lower it," answered West, " I
will be the first to get into it, although at the risk of my
life. But I must have the order."

In unspeakable suspense the ship's crew and myself had

28o THE SPHINX OF ICE

witnessed this scene. None thought of the position of the
Halbrane, which was sufficiently dangerous; all eyes were
fixed upon the terrible waves. Now fresh cries, the frantic
cheers of the crew, rose above the roar of the elements.
Hunt had reached the drowning man just as he sank out
of sight, had seized hold of him, and was supporting him
with his left arm, while Holt, incapable of movement,
swayed helplessly about like a reed. With the other arm
Hunt was swimming bravely and making way towards the
schooner.

A minute, which seemed endless, passed. The two
men, the one dragging the other, were hardly to be dis-
tinguished in the midst of the surging waves.

At last Hunt reached the schooner, and caught one of
the lines hanging over the side.

In a minute Hunt and Martin Holt were hoisted on
board; the latter was laid down at the foot of the fore-
mast, and the former was quite ready to go to his work.
Holt was speedily restored by the aid of vigorous rubbing;
his senses came back, and he opened his eyes.

" Martin Holt," said Captain Len Guy, who was leaning
over him, " you have been brought back from very
far "

" Yes, yes, captain," answered Holt, as he looked about
him with searching gaze, "but who saved me?"

" Hunt," cried the boatswain, " Hunt risked .his life
for you."

As the latter was hanging back, Hurliguerly pushed him
towards Martin Holt, whose eyes expressed the liveliest
gratitude. " Hunt," said he, " you have saved me. But
for you I should have been lost. I thank you."

Hunt made no reply. "Hunt," resumed Captain Guy,
"don't you hear?"

The man seemed not to have heard.

"Hunt," said Martin Holt again, "come near to me.
I thank you. I want to shake hands with you."

And he held out his right hand. Hunt stepped back a
few paces, shaking his head with the air of a man who did
not want so many compliments for a thing so simple, and
quietly walked forward to join his shipmates, who were
working vigorously under the orders of West.

Decidedly, this man was a hero in courage and self-

TO THE ICE WALL 281

devotion; but equally decidedly he was a being imper-
vious to impressions, and not on that day either was the
boatswain destined to know "the color of his words!"

For three whole days, the 6th, 7th, and 8th of Decem-
ber, the tempest raged in these waters, accompanied by
snow storms which perceptibly lowered the temperature.
It is needless to say that Captain Len Guy proved himself a
true seaman, that James West had an eye to everything,
that the crew seconded them loyally, and that Hunt was
always foremost when there was work to be done or
danger to be incurred.

In truth, I do not know how to give an idea of this
man ! What a difference there was between him and most
of the sailors recruited at the Falklands, and especially
between him and Hearne, the sealing-master ! They
obeyed, no doubt, for such a master as James West gets
himself obeyed, whether with a good or ill will. But be-
hind backs what complaints were made, what recrimina-
tions were exchanged! All this, I feared, was of evil
presage for the future.

Martin Holt had been able to resume his duties very
soon, and he fulfilled them with hearty good-will. He
knew the business of a sailor right well, and was the only
man on board who could compete with Hunt in handiness
and zeal.

" Well, Holt," said I to him one day when he was talk-
ing with the boatswain, " what terms are you on with that
queer fellow Hunt now? Since the salvage affair, is he a
little more communicative ? "

"No, Mr. Jeorling, and I think he even tries to avoid
me."

"To avoid you?"

" Well, he did so before, for that matter."

"Yes, indeed, that is true," added Hurliguerly; " I have
made the same remark more than once."

"Then he keeps aloof from you, Holt, as from the
others ? "

" From me more than from the others."

"What is the meaning of that?

" I don't know, Mr. Jeorling."

I was surprised at what the two men had said, but a little
observation convinced me that Hunt actually did avoid

282 THE SPHINX OF ICE

every occasion of coming in contact with Martin Holt.
Did he not think that he had a right to Holt's gratitude
although the latter owed his life to him? This man's con-
duct was certainly very strange.

In the early morning of the 9th the wind showed a
tendency to change in the direction of the east, which
would mean more manageable weather for us. And, in
fact, although the sea still remained rough, at about two
in the morning it became feasible to put on more sail
without risk, and thus the Halbrane regained the course
from which she had been driven by the prolonged tempest.

In that portion of the Antarctic sea the ice-packs were
more numerous, and there was reason to believe that the
tempest, by hastening the smash-up, had broken the barrier
of the iceberg wall towards the east.

On the morning of December 17th the man in the
crow's-nest at last signaled the ice barrier. Five or six
miles to the south a long dentated crest upreared itself,
plainly standing out against the fairly clear sky, and all
along it drifted thousands of ice-packs. This motionless
barrier stretched before us from the northwest to the south-
east, and by merely sailing along it the schooner would
still gain some degrees southwards.

When the Halbrane was within three miles of the ice-
bergs, she lay-to in the middle of a wide basin which al-
lowed her complete freedom of movement.

A boat was lowered, and Captain Len Guy got into it,
with the boatswain, four sailors at the oars, and one at the
helm. The boat was pulled in the direction of the enor-
mous rampart, vain search was made for a channel through
which the schooner could have slipped, and after three
hours of this fatiguing reconnoitering, the men returned
to the ship. Then came a squall of rain and snow which
caused the temperature to fall to thirty-six degrees (2.22
Centigrade), and shut out the view of the ice-rampart
from us.

During the next twenty-four Hours the schooner lay
within four miles of the icebergs. To bring her nearer
would have been to get among winding channels from
which it might not have been possible to extricate her.
Not that Captain Len Guy did not long to do this, in his
fear of passing some opening unperceived.

TO THE ICE WALL 283

" If I had a consort," he said, " I would sail closer along
the icebergs, and it is a great advantage to be two, when
one is on such an enterprise as this! But the Halbrane
is alone, and if she were to fail us "

Even though we approached no nearer to the icebergs
than prudence permitted, our ship was exposed to great
risk, and West was constantly obliged to change his trim
in order to avoid the shock of an icefield.

Fortunately, the wind blew from east to north-no r'east
without variation, and it did not freshen. Had a tempest
arisen I know not what would have become of the
schooner — yes, though, I do know too well; she would
have been lost and all on board of her. In such a case
the Halbrane could not have escaped; we must have been
flung on the base of the barrier.

After a long examination Captain Len Guy had to re-
nounce the hope of finding a passage through the terrible
wall of ice. It remained only to endeavor to reach the
southeast point of it. At any rate, by following that
course we lost nothing in latitude; and, in fact, on the 18th
the observation taken made the seventy-third parallel the
position of the Halbrane.

I must repeat, however, that navigation in the Antarctic
seas t will probably never be accomplished under more
felicitous circumstances— the precocity of the summer sea-
son, the permanence of the north wind, the temperature
forty-nine degrees at the lowest; all this was the best of
good- fortune. I need not add that we enjoyed perpetual
light, and the whole twenty-four hours round the sun's
rays reached us from every point of the horizon.

Two or three times the captain approached within two
miles of the icebergs. It was impossible but that the vast
mass must have been subjected to climatic influences;
ruptures must surely have taken place at some points.

But his search had no result, and we had to fall back
into the current from west to east.

I must observe at this point that during all our search
we never descried land or the appearance of land out at
sea, as indicated on the charts of preceding navigators.
These maps are incomplete, no doubt, but sufficiently ex-
act in their main lines. I am aware that ships have often
passed over the indicated bearings of land. This, how-

284 THE SPHINX OF ICE

ever, was not admissible in the case of Tsalal. If the
Jane had been able to reach the islands, it was because
that portion of the Antarctic sea was free, and in so
"early" a year, we need not fear any obstacle in that
direction.

At last, on the 19th, between two and three o'clock in
the afternoon, a shout from the crow's-nest was heard.

" What is it? " roared West.

" The iceberg wall is split on the southeast."

"What is beyond?"

" Nothing in sight."

It took West very little time to reach the point of ob-
servation, and we all waited below, how impatiently may
be imagined. What if the look-out were mistaken, if
some optical delusion? — But West, at all events, would
make no mistake.

After ten interminable minutes his clear voice reached
us on deck. " Open sea ! " he cried.

Unanimous cheers made answer. The schooner was put
to the southeast, hugging the wind as much as possible.

Two hours later we had doubled the extremity of the
ice-barrier, and there lay before our eyes a sparkling sea,
entirely open.

CHAPTER IV

A VOICE IN A DREAM

Entirely free from ice? No. It would have been
premature to affirm this as a fact. A few icebergs were
visible in the distance, while some drifts and packs were
still going east. Nevertheless, the break-up had been very
thorough on that side, and the sea was in reality open, since
a ship could sail freely.

" God has come to our aid," said Captain Len Guy.
" May He be pleased to guide us to the end."

" In a week," I remarked, " our schooner might come in
sight of Tsalal Island."

" Provided that the east wind lasts, Mr. Jeorling. Don't
forget that in sailing along the icebergs to their eastern ex-
tremity, the Halbrane went out of her course, and she
must be brought back towards the west."

A VOICE IN A DREAM 285

" The breeze is for us, captain."

" And we shall profit by it, for my intention is to make
for Bennet Islet. It was there that my brother first
landed, and so soon as we shall have sighted that island we
shall be certain that we are on the right route. To-day,
when I have ascertained our position exactly, we shall steer
for Bennet Islet."

" Who knows but that we may come upon some fresh
sign?"^

"It is not impossible, Mr. Jeorling."

I need not say that recourse was had to the surest guide
within our reach, that veracious narrative of Arthur Gor-
don Pym, which I read and re-read with intense attention,
fascinated as I was by the idea that I might be permitted
to behold with my own eyes those strange phenomena of
nature in the Antarctic world which I, in common with all
Edgar Poe's readers, had hitherto regarded as creations of
the most imaginative writer who ever gave voice by his
pen to the phantasies of a unique brain. No doubt a great
part of the wonders of Arthur Gordon Pym's narrative
would prove pure fiction, but if even a little of the marvel-
ous story were found to be true, how great a privilege
Would be mine!

The picturesque and wonderful side of the story we were
studying as gospel truth had little charm and but slight
interest for Captain Len Guy; he was indifferent to every-
thing in Pym's narrative that did not relate directly to
the castaways of Tsalal Island; his mind was solely and
constantly set upon their rescue.

According to the narrative of Arthur Pym, the Jane ex-
perienced serious difficulties, due to bad weather, from the
1st to the 4th of January, 1828. It was not until the morning
of the 5th, in latitude 73 ° 15', that she found a free passage
through the last iceberg that baned her way. The final
difference between our position and the Jane in a parallel
case, was that the Jane took fifteen days to accomplish the
distance of ten degrees, or six hundred miles, which sep-
arated her on the 5th of January from Tsalal Island, while
on the 19th of December the Halbrane was only about
seven degrees, or four hundred miles, off the island.
Bennet Islet, where Captain Guy intended to put in for
twenty-four hours, was fifty miles nearer. Our voyage

286 THE SPHINX OF ICE

was progressing under prosperous conditions; we were no
longer visited by sudden hail and snow storms, or those
rapid falls of temperature which tried the crew of the Jane
so sorely.

During the night, or rather what ought to have been the
night of the I9th-20th, my sleep was disturbed by a strange
dream. Yes ! there could be no doubt but that it was only
a dream! Nevertheless, I think it well to record it here,
because it is an additional testimony to the haunting in-
fluence under which my brain was beginning to labor.

I was sleeping — at two hours after midnight — and was
awakened by a plaintive and continuous murmuring sound.
I opened — or I imagined I opened my eyes. My cabin was
in profound darkness. The murmur began again; I
listened, and it seemed to me that a voice — a voice which
I did not know — whispered these words :

" Pym . . . Pym . . poor Pym ! "

Evidently this could only be a delusion; unless, indeed,
some one had got into my cabin: the door was not locked.
"Pym!" the voice repeated. "Poor Pym 'never must be
forgotten."

This time the words were spoken close to my ear.
What was the meaning of the injunction, and why was it
addressed to me? And besides, had not Pym, after his
return to America, met with a sudden and deplorable death,
the circumstances or the details being unknown ?

I began to doubt whether I was in my right mind, and
shook myself into complete wakefulness, recognizing that
I had been disturbed by an extremely vivid dream due to
some cerebral cause.

I turned out of my berth, and, pushing back the shutter,
looked out of my cabin. No one aft on the deck, except
Hunt, who was at the helm.

I had nothing to do but to lie down again, and this I
did. It seemed to me that the name of Arthur Pym was
repeated in my hearing several times; nevertheless, I fell
asleep and did not wake until morning, when I retained
only a vague impression of this occurrence, which soon
faded away. No other incident at that period of our voy-
age calls for notice. Nothing particular occurred on board
our schooner. The breeze from the north, which had for-
saken us, did not recur, and only the current carried the

A VOICE IN A DREAM 287

Halbrane towards the south. This caused a delay unbear-
able to our impatience.

At last, on the 21st, the usual observation gave 82° 50'
of latitude, and 420 20' of west longitude. Bennet Islet,
if it had any existence, could not be far off now.

_ Yes ! the islet did exist, and its bearings were those in-
dicated by Arthur Pym. At six o'clock in the evening one
of the crew cried out that there was land ahead.

CHAPTER V

BENNET ISLET

The Halbrane was then within sight of Bennet Islet!
The crew urgently needed rest, so the disembarkation was
deferred until the following day, and I went back to my
cabin.

The night passed without disturbance, and when day
came nota craft of any kind was visible on the waters,
not a native on the beach. There were no huts upon the
coast, no smoke arose in the distance to indicate that Ben-
net Islet was inhabited. But William Guy had not found
any trace of human beings there, and what I saw of the
islet answered to the description given by Arthur Pym.
It rose upon a rocky base of about a league in circumfer-
ence, and was so arid that no vegetation existed on its sur-
face.

" Mr. Jeorling," said Captain Len Guy, " do you observe
a promontory in the direction of the northeast? "

" I observe it, captain."

"Is it not formed of heaped-up rocks which look like
giant bales of cotton ? "

"^ That is so, and just what the narrative describes."

"Then all we have to do is to land on the promontory,
Mr. Jeorling. Who knows but we may come across some
vestige of the crew of the Jane, supposing them to have
succeeded in escaping from Tsalal Island."

The speaker was devouring the islet with his eyes.
What must his thoughts, his desires, his impatience have
been! But there was a man whose gaze was set upon
the same point even more fixedly; that man was Hunt.

Before we left the Halbrane Len Guy enjoined the most

288 THE SPHINX OF ICE

minute and careful watchfulness upon his lieutenant. This
was a charge which West did not need. Our exploration
would take only half a day at most. If the boat had not
returned in the afternoon a second was to be sent in
search of us.

" Look sharp also after our recruits," added the captain.

" Don't be uneasy, captain," replied the lieutenant.
" Indeed, since you want four men at the oars you had
better take them from among the new ones. That will
leave four less troublesome fellows on board."

This was a good idea, for, under the deplorable in-
fluence of Hearne, the discontent of his shipmates from the
Falklands was now on the increase. The boat being ready,
four of the new crew took their places forward, while
Hunt, at his own request, was steersman. Captain Len
Guy, the boatswain and myself, all well armed, seated our-
selves aft, and we started for the northern point of the
islet. In the course of an hour we had doubled the
promontory, and come in sight of the little bay whose
shores the boats of the Jane had touched.

Hunt steered for this bay, gliding with remarkable skill
between the rocky points which stuck up here and there.
One would have certainly thought he knew his way among
them.

We disembarked on a stony coast. The stones were
covered with sparse lichen. The tide was already ebbing,
leaving uncovered the sandy bottom of a sort of beach
strewn with black rocks, resembling big nail-heads.

Two men were left in charge of the boat while we
landed amid the rocks, and, accompanied by the other
two, Captain Len Guy, the boatswain, Hunt and I pro-
ceed towards the center, where we found some rising
ground, from whence we could see the whole extent of the
islet. But there was nothing to be seen on any side, ab-
solutely nothing. On coming down from the slight
eminence Hunt went on in front, as it had been agreed
that he was to be our guide. We followed him therefore,
as he led us towards the southern extremity of the islet.
Having reached the point, Hunt looked carefully on all
sides of him, then stooped and showed us a piece of half
rotten wood lying among the scattered stones.

" I remember ! " I exclaimed ; " Arthur Pym speaks of

BENNET ISLET 289

a piece of wood with traces of carving on it which ap-
peared to have belonged to the bow of a ship."

" Among the carving my brother fancied he could trace
the design of a tortoise," added Captain Len Guy.

"Just so," I replied, "but Arthur Pym pronounced
that resemblance doubtful. No matter; the piece of wood
is still in the same place that is indicated in the narrative,
so we may conclude that since the Jane cast anchor here
no other crew has ever set foot upon Bennet Islet. It fol-
lows that we should only lose time in looking out for any
tokens of another landing. We shall know nothing until
we reach Tsalal Island."

" Yes, Tsalal Island," replied the captain.

We then retraced our steps in the direction of the bay.
In various places we observed fragments of coral reef, and
beche-de-mer was so abundant that our schooner might
have taken a full cargo of it.

Hunt walked on in silence with downcast eyes, until
as we were close upon the beach to the east, he, being about
ten paces ahead, stopped abruptly, and summoned us to
him by a hurried gesture.

In an instant we were by his side. Hunt had evinced
no surprise on the subject of the piece of wood first found,
but his attitude changed when he knelt down in front of a
worm-eaten plank lying on the sand. He felt it all over
with his huge hands, as though he were seeking some
tracery on its rough surface whose signification might be
intelligible to him. The black paint was hidden under
the thick dirt that had accumulated upon it. The plank
had probably formed part of a ship's stern, as the boat-
swain requested us to observe.

" Yes, yes," repeated Captain Len Guy, " it made part
of a stern."

Hunt, who still remained kneeling, nodded his big head
in assent.

" But," I remarked, " this plank must have been cast
upon Bennet Islet from a wreck! The cross-currents
must have found it in the open sea, and "

" If that were so — " cried the captain.

The same thought had occurred to both of us. What
was our surprise, indeed our amazement, our unspeakable
emotion, when Hunt showed us eight letters cut in 'the

V. XIV Verne

290 THE SPHINX OF ICE

plank, not painted, but hollow and distinctly traceable
with the finger.

It was only too easy to recognize the letters of two
names, arranged in two lines, thus :
AN
LI.E.PO.L.
The Jane of Liverpool! The schooner commanded by
Captain William Guy! What did it matter that time had
blurred the other letters? Did not those suffice to tell the
name of the ship and the port she belonged to? The Jane
of Liverpool!

Captain Len Guy had taken the plank in his hands, and
now he pressed his lips to it, while tears fell from his eyes.
It was a fragment of the Jane! I did not utter a word
until the captain's emotion had subsided. As for Hunt,
I had never seen such a lightning glance from his brilliant
hawk-like eyes as he now cast towards the southern
horizon.

Captain Len Guy rose. Hunt, without a word, placed
the plank upon his shoulder, and we continued our route.
When we had made the tour of the island, we halted at
the place where the boat had been left under the charge
of two sailors, and about half-past two in the afternoon we
were again on board.

Early on the morning of the 23rd of December the
Halbrane put off from Bennet Islet, and we carried away
with us new and convincing testimony to the catastrophe
which Tsalal Island had witnessed.

During that day, I observed the sea water very atten-
tively, and_ it seemed to me less deeply blue than Arthur
Pym describes it. Nor had we met a single specimen of
his monster of the austral fauna, an animal three feet long,
six inches high, with four short legs, long coral claws, a
silky body, a rat's tail, a cat's head, the hanging ears, blood-
red lips and white teeth of a dog. The truth is that I
regarded several of these details as " suspect," and entirely
due to an over-imaginative temperament.

Seated far aft in the ship, I read Edgar Poe's book with
sedulous attention, but I was not unaware of the fact that
Hunt, whenever his duties furnished him with an oppor-
tunity, observed me pertinaciously, and with looks of
singular meaning.

BENNET ISLET 291

And, in fact, I was re-perusing the end of Chapter
XVII., in which Arthur Pym acknowledged his responsi-
bility for the sad and tragic events which were the results
of his advice. It was, in fact, he who over-persuaded
Captain William Guy, urging him " to profit by so tempt-
ing an opportunity of solving the great problem relating
to the Antarctic Continent." And, besides, while accept-
ing that responsibility, did he not congratulate himself on
having been the instrument of a great discovery, and having
aided in some degree to reveal to science one of the most
marvelous secrets which had ever claimed its attention ?

At six o'clock the sun disappeared behind a thick curtain
of mist. After midnight the breeze freshened, and the
Halbrane's progress marked a dozen additional miles. On
the morrow the good ship was less than the third of a de-
gree, that is to say less than twenty miles, from Tsalal
Island. Unfortunately, just after mid-day, the wind fell.
Nevertheless, thanks to the current, the Island of Tsalal
was signaled at forty-five minutes past six in the evening.

The anchor was cast, a watch was set, with loaded fire-
arms within hand-reach, and boarding nets ready. The
Halbrane ran no risk of being surprised. Too many eyes
were watching on board — especially those of Hunt, whose
gaze never quitted the horizon of that southern zone for
an instant.

CHAPTER VI

TSALAL ISLAND

The night passed without alarm. No boat had put off
from the island, nor had a native shown himself upon the
beach. The Halbrane, then, had not been observed on
her arrival ; this was all the better.

When the Jane appeared in these waters, the people of
Tsalal beheld a ship for the first time, and they took it for
an enormous animal, regarding its masts as limbs, and its
sails as garments. Now, they ought to be better informed
on this subject, and if they did not attempt to visit us, to
what motive were we to assign such conduct?

Captain Len Guy gave orders for the lowering of the
ship's largest boat, in a voice which betrayed his impa-
tience.

292 THE SPHINX OF ICE

The order was executed, and the captain, addressing
West, said, " Send eight men down with Martin Holt ! send
Hunt to the helm. Remain yourself at the moorings, and
keep a look-out landwards as well as to sea."

"Aye, aye, sir; don't be uneasy."

"We are going ashore, and we shall try to gain the
village of Klock-Klock. If any difficulty should arise on
sea, give us warning by firing three shots."

"All right," replied West — "at a minute's interval."

" If we should not return before evening, send the sec-
ond boat with ten armed men under the boatswain's or-
ders, and let them station themselves within a cable's length
of the shore, so as to escort us back. You understand?"

" Perfectly, captain."

"If we are not to be found, after you have done all in
your power, you will take command of the schooner, and
bring her back to the Falklands."

" I will do so."

The large boat was rapidly got ready. Eight men em-
barked in it, including Martin Holt and Hunt, all armed
with rifles, pistols, and knives; the latter weapons were
slung in their belts. They also carried cartridge-pouches.

I stepped forward and said, " Will you not allow me to
accompany you, captain ? "

"If you wish to do so, Mr. Jeorling."

I went to my cabin, took my gun — a repeating rifle —
with ball and powder, and rejoined Captain Len Guy, who
had kept a place in the stern of the boat for me. Our
object was to discover the passage through which Arthur
Pym and Dirk Peters had crossed the reef on the 19th of
January, 1828, in the Jane's boat. For twenty minutes we
rowed along the reef, and then Hunt discovered the pass,
which was through a narrow cut in the rocks. Leaving
two men in the boat, we landed, and having gone through
the winding gorge which gave access to the crest of the
coast, our little force, headed by Hunt, pushed on towards
the center of the island. Captain Len Guy and myself ex-
changed observations, as we walked, on the subject of
this country, which, as Arthur Pym declared, differed
essentially from every other land hitherto visited by human
beings. We soon found that Pym's description was trust-
worthy. The general color of the plains was black, as

TSALAL ISLAND 293

though the clay were made of lava-dust; nowhere was any-
thing white to be seen. At a hundred paces' distance
Hunt began to run towards an enormous mass of rock,
climbed on it with great agility, and looked out over a wide
extent of space like a man who ought to recognize the
place he is in, but does not.

"What is the matter with him?" asked Captain Len
Guy, who was observing Hunt attentively.

"I don't know what is the matter with him, captain.
But, as you are aware, everything about this man is odd :
his ways are inexplicable, and on certain sides of him he
seems to belong to those strange beings whom Arthur
Pym asserts that he found on this island. One would even

say that "

" That — " repeated the captain.

And then, without finishing my sentence, I said, " Captain
are you sure that you made a good observation when you
took the altitude yesterday?"
"Certainly."

" So that your point "

" Gave 830 20' of latitude and 430 5' longitude."
"Exactly?"
"Exactly."

"There is, then, no doubt that we are on Tsalal Island? "
" None, Mr. Jeorling, if Tsalal Island lies where Arthur
Pym places it."

This was quite true, there could be no doubt on the
point, and yet of all that Arthur Pym described nothing
existed, or rather, nothing was any longer to be seen. Not
a tree, not a shrub, not a plant was visible in the landscape.
There was no sign of the wooded hills between which the
village of Klock-Klock ought to lie, or of the streams from
which the crew of the Jane had not ventured to drink.
There was no water anywhere; but everywhere absolute,
awful drought.

Nevertheless, Hunt walked on rapidly, without showing
any hesitation. It seemed as though he was led by a nat-
ural instinct, "a bee's flight," as we say in America. I
know not what presentiment induced us to follow him as
the best of guides, a Chingachgook, a Renard-Subtil.
And why not? Was not he the fellow-countryman of
Fenimore Cooper's heroes?

294 THE SPHINX OF ICE

But, I must repeat that we had not before our eyes
that fabulous land which Arthur Pym described. The soil
we were treading had been ravaged, wrecked, torn by con-
vulsion. It was black, a cindery black, as though it had
been vomited from the earth under the action of Plutonian
forces; it suggested that some appalling and irresistible
cataclysm had overturned the whole of its surface.

Not one of the animals mentioned in the narrative was
to be seen, and even the penguins which abound in the
Antarctic regions had fled from this uninhabitable land.
Its stern silence and solitude made it a hideous desert. No
human being was to be seen either on the coast or in the
interior. Did any chance of finding William Guy and the
survivors of the Jane exist in the midst of this scene of
desolation?

I looked at Captain Len Guy. His pale face, thin eyes,
and knit brow told too plainly that hope was beginning to
die within his breast.

And then the population of Tsalal Island, the almost
naked men, armed with clubs and lances, the tall, well-
made, upstanding women, endowed with grace and freedom
of bearing not to be found in a civilized society — those
are the expressions of Arthur Pym — and the crowd of
children accompanying them, what had become of all
these? Where were the multitude of natives, with black
skins, black hair, black teeth, who regarded white color
with deadly terror?

All of a sudden a light flashed upon me. "An earth-
quake ! " I exclaimed. " Yes, two or three of those ter-
rible shocks, so common in these regions where the sea
penetrates by infiltration, and a day comes when the
quantity of accumulated vapor makes its way out and
destroys everything on the surface."

" Could an earthquake have changed Tsalal Island to
such an extent ? " asked Len Guy, musingly.

"Yes, captain, an earthquake has done this thing; it
has destroyed every trace of all that Arthur Pym saw
here."

Hunt, who had drawn nigh to us, and was listening,
nodded his head in approval of my words.

" Are not these countries of the southern seas volcanic? "
I resumed. "If the Hafyrane were to transport us to

TSALAL ISLAND 295

Victoria Land, we might find the Erebus and the Terror in
the midst of an eruption."

"And yet," observed Martin Holt, "if there had been
an eruption here, we should find lava beds."

" I do not say that there has been an eruption," I replied,
"but I do say the soil has been convulsed by an earth-
quake."

On reflection it will be seen that the explanation given
by me deserved to be admitted. And then it came to my
remembrance that according to Arthur Pym's narrative,
Tsalal belonged to a group of islands which extended to-
wards the west. Unless the people of Tsalal had been
destroyed, it was possible that they might have fled into
one of the neighboring islands. We should do well, then,
to go and reconnoiter that archipelago, for Tsalal clearly
had no resources whatever to offer after the cataclysm.

I spoke of this to the captain.

" Yes," he replied, and tears stood in his eyes, " yes, it
may be so. And yet, how could my brother and his un-
fortunate companions have found the means of escaping?
Is it not far more probable that they all perished in the
earthquake ? "

Here Hunt made us a signal to follow him, and we did
so. After he had pushed across the valley for a consider-
able distance, he stopped.

What a spectacle was before our eyes!

There, lying in heaps, were human bones, all the frag-
ments of that framework of humanity which we call the
skeleton, hundreds of them, without a particle of flesh,
clusters of skulls still bearing some tufts of hair — a vast
bone heap, dried and whitened in this place! We were
struck dumb and motionless by this spectacle. When
Captain Len Guy could speak, he murmured, " My
brother, my poor brother ! "

On a little reflection, however, my mind refused to ad-
mit certain things. How was this catastrophe to be re-
conciled with Patterson's memoranda? The entries in his
note-book stated explicitly that the mate of the Jane had
left his companions on Tsalal Island seven months pre-
viously. They could not then have perished in this earth-
quake, for the state of the bones proved that it had taken
place several years earlier, and must have occurred after

296 THE SPHINX OF ICE

the departure of Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters, since no
mention of it was made in the narrative of the former.

These facts were, then, irreconcilable. If the earth-
quake was of recent date, the presence of those time-
bleached skeletons could not be attributed to its action. In
any case, the survivors of the Jane were not among them.
But then, where were they?

The valley of Klock-Klock extended no farther; we had
to retrace our steps in order to regain the coast.

We had hardly gone half a mile on the cliff's edge when
Hunt again stopped, on perceiving some fragments of
bones which were turning to dust, and did not seem to be
those of a human being. Were these the remains of one
of the strange animals described by Arthur Pym, of which
we had not hitherto seen any specimens?

Hunt suddenly uttered a cry, or rather a sort of savage
growl, and held out his enormous hand, holding a metal
collar. Yes! a brass collar, a collar eaten by rust, but
bearing letters which might still be deciphered. These let-
ters formed the three following words:

" Tiger — Arthur Pym."

Tiger! — the name of the dog which had saved Arthur
Pym's life in the hold of the Grampus, and, during the
revolt of the crew, had sprung at the throat of Jones, the
sailor, who was immediately " finished " by Dirk Peters.

So, then, that faithful animal had not perished in the
shipwreck of the Grampus. He had been taken on board
the Jane at the same time as Arthur Pym and the half-
breed. And yet the narrative did not allude to this, and
after the meeting with the schooner there was no longer
any mention of the dog. All these contradictions occurred
to me. I could not reconcile the facts. Nevertheless,
there could be no doubt that Tiger had been saved from the
shipwreck like Arthur Pym, had escaped the landslip of
the Klock-Klock hill, and had come to his death at last in
the catastrophe which had destroyed a portion of the
population of Tsalal.

But, again, William Guy and his five sailors could not
be among those skeletons which were strewn upon the
earth, since they were living at the time of Patterson's
departure, seven months ago, and the catastrophe already
dated several years back!

TSALAL ISLAND 297

Three hours later we had returned on board the Halbrane,
without having made any other discovery. Captain Len
Guy went direct to his cabin, shut himself up there, and
did not reappear even at dinner hour.

The following day, as I wished to return to the island
in order to resume its exploration from one coast to the
other, I requested West to have me rowed ashore. He
consented, after he had been authorized by Captain Len
Guy, who did not come with us.

Hunt, the boatswain, Martin Holt, four men, and my-
self took our places in the boat, without arms; for there
was no longer anything to fear. We disembarked at our
yesterday's landing-place, and Hunt again led the way to-
wards the hill of Klock-Klock. Nothing remained of the
eminence that had been carried away in the artificial land-
slip, from which the captain of the Jane, Patterson, his
second officer, and five of his men had happily escaped.
The village of Klock-Klock had thus disappeared; and
doubtless the mystery of the strange discoveries narrated
in Edgar Poe's work was now and ever would remain be-
yond solution.

We had only to regain our ship, returning by the east
side of the coast. Hunt brought us through the space
where sheds had been erected for the preparation of the
beche-de-mer, and we saw the remains of them. On all
sides silence and abandonment reigned.

We made a brief pause at the place where Arthur Pym
and Dirk Peters seized upon the boat which bore them
towards higher latitudes, even to that horizon of dark
vapor whose rents permitted them to discern the huge
human figure, the white giant.

Hunt stood with crossed arms, his eyes devouring the
vast extent of the sea.

"Well, Hunt?" said I, tentatively.

Hunt did not appear to hear me; he did not turn his
head in my direction.

" What are we doing here? " I asked him, and touched
him on the shoulder. He started, and cast a glance upon
me which went to my heart.

"Come along, Hunt," cried Hurliguerly. "Are you
going to take root on this rock? Don't you see the
Halbrane waiting for us at her moorings? Come along

298 THE SPHINX OF ICE

We shall be off to-morrow. There is nothing more to do
here."

It seemed to me that Hunt's trembling lips repeated the
word " nothing," while his whole bearing protested against
what the boatswain said.

The boat brought us back to the ship. Captain Len
Guy had not left his cabin. West, having received no
orders, was pacing the deck aft. I seated myself at the
foot of the mainmast, observing the sea which lay open
and free before us.

At this moment the captain came on deck; he was very
pale, and his features looked pinched and weary.

"Mr. Jeorling," said he, "I can affirm conscientiously
that I have done all it was possible to do. Can I hope
henceforth that my brother William and his companions —
No! No! We must go away — before winter "

He drew himself up, and cast a last glance towards
Tsalal Island.

"To-morrow, Jim," he said to West, "to-morrow we
will make sail as early as possible.

At this moment a rough voice uttered the words :

"And Pym— poor Pym!"

I recognized this voice. It was the voice I had heard in
my dream.

CHAPTER VII

AND PYM?

"And Pym — poor Pym?"

I turned round quickly.

Hunt had spoken. This strange person was standing
motionless at a little distance, gazing fixedly at the horizon.

It was so unusual to hear Hunt's voice on board the
schooner, that the men, whom the unaccustomed sound
reached, drew near, moved by curiosity. Did not his un-
expected intervention point to — I had a presentiment that
it did — some wonderful revelation ?

A movement of West's hand sent the men forward,
leaving only the mate, the boatswain and Martin Holt, the
sailing-master, with the captain and myself in the vicinity
of Hunt. The captain approached and addressed him:

"What did you say?"

AND PYM? 299

" I said, * And Pym — poor Pym.' "

" Well, then, what do you mean by repeating the name
of the man whose pernicious advice led my brother to the
island on which the Jane was lost, the greater part of her
crew was massacred, and where we have not found even
one left of those who were still here seven months
ago?"

Hunt did not speak.

" Answer, I say — answer ! " cried the captain.

Hunt hesitated, not because he did not know what to say,
but from a certain difficulty in expressing his ideas. The
latter were quite clear, but his speech was confused, his
words were unconnected. He had a certain language of
his own which sometimes was picturesque, and his pro-
nunication was strongly marked by the hoarse accent of the
Indians of the Far West.

" You see," he said, " I do not know how to tell things.
My tongue stops. Understand me, I spoke of Pym, poor
Pym, did I not ? "

" Yes," answered West, sternly; " and what have you to
say about Arthur Pym? "

" I have to say that he must not be abandoned."

" Abandoned ! " I exclaimed.

" No, never ! It would be cruel — too cruel. We must
go to seek him."

" To seek him ? " repeated Captain Len Guy.

"Understand me; it is for this that I have embarked on
the Halbrane — yes, to find poor Pym ! "

" And where is he," I asked, " if not deep in a grave, in
the cemetery of his natal city? "

" No, he is in the place where he remained, alone, all
alone," continued Hunt, pointing towards the south; "and
since then the sun has risen on that horizon seven times."

It was evident that Hunt intended to designate the Ant-
arctic regions, but what did he mean by this ?

" Do you not know that Arthur Pym is dead ? " said the
captain.

" Dead ! " replied Hunt, emphasizing the word with an
expressive gesture. "No! listen to me: I know things;
understand me, he is not dead."

" Come now, Hunt," said I, " remember what you do
know. In the last chapter of the adventures of Arthur

300 THE SPHINX OF ICE

Pym, does not Edgar Poe relate his sudden and deplorable
end?"

" Explain yourself, Hunt," said the captain, in a tone
of command. " Reflect, take your time, and say plainly
whatever you have to say."

And, while Hunt passed his hand over his brow, as
though to collect his memory of far-off things, I observed
to Captain Guy, " There is something very singular in the
intervention of this man, if indeed he be not mad."

At my words the boatswain shook his head, for he did
not believe Hunt to be in his right mind.

The latter understood this shake of the boatswain's head,
and cried out in a harsh tone, " No, not mad. And mad-^
men are respected on the prairies, even if they are not be-
lieved. And I — I must be believed. No, no, no ! Pym is
not dead ! "

" Edgar Poe asserts that he is," I replied.

" Yes, I know, Edgar Poe of Baltimore. But — he never
saw poor Pym, never, never."

"What!" exclaimed Captain Len Guy; "the two men
were not acquainted ? "

"No!"

" And it was not Arthur Pym himself who related his
adventures to Edgar Poe? "

"No, captain, no! He, below there, at Baltimore, had
only the notes written by Pym from the day when he hid
himself on board the Grampus to the very last hour — the
last — understand me the last."

"Who, then, brought back that journal?" asked Cap-
tain Len Guy, as he seized Hunt's hand.

" It was Pym's companion, he who loved him, his poor
Pym, like a son. It was Dirk Peters, the half-breed, who
came back alone from there — beyond."

" The half-breed, Dirk Peters! " I exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Alone?"

" Alone."

" And Arthur Pym may be—-"

"There," answered Hunt, in a loud voice, bending to-
wards the southern line, from which he had not diverted
his gaze for a moment.

Could such an assertion prevail against the general in-

AND PYM? 301

credulity? No, assuredly not! Martin Holt nudged
Hurliguerly with his elbow, and both regarded Hunt with
pity, while West observed him without speaking. Captain
Len Guy made me a sign, meaning that nothing serious
was to be got out of this poor fellow, whose mental facul-
ties must have been out of gear for a long time.

Nevertheless, when I looked keenly at Hunt, it seemed to
me that a sort of radiance of truth shone out of his eyes.

Then I set to work to interrogate the man, putting to
him precise and pressing questions which he tried to an-
swer categorically, as we shall see, and not once did he
contradict himself.

"Tell me," I asked, "did Arthur Pym really come to
Tsalal Island on board the Grampus? "

"Yes."

" Did Arthur Pym separate himself, with the half-breed
and one of the sailors, from his companions while Cap-
tain William Guy had gone to the village of Klock-Klock? "

" Yes. The sailor was one Allen, and he was almost
immediately stifled under the stones."

"Then the two others saw the attack, and the destruc-
tion of the schooner, from the top of the hill?"

" Yes."

"Then, some time later, the two left the island, after
they had got possession of one of the boats which the
natives could not take from them? "

"Yes."

"And, after twenty days, having reached the front of
the curtain of vapor, they were both carried down into
the gulf of the cataract? "

This time Hunt did not reply in the affirmative; he
hesitated, he stammered out some vague words ; he seemed
to be trying to rekindle the half-extinguished flame of his
memory. At length, looking at me and shaking his head,
he answered:

"No, not both. Understand me — Dirk never told
me

"Dirk Peters," interposed Captain Len Guy, quickly.
"You knew Dirk Peters?"

" Yes."

"Where?"

" At Vandalia, State of Illinois."

302 THE SPHINX OF ICE

" And it is from him that you have all this information
concerning the voyage?"
"From him."

"And he came back alone — alone — from that voyage,
having left Arthur Pym."
"Alone!"

"Speak, man — do speak!" I cried, impatiently. Then,
in broken, but intelligible sentences, Hunt spoke:

"Yes — there — a curtain of vapor — so the half-breed
often said — understand me. The two, Arthur Pym and
he, were in the Tsalal boat. Then an enormous block of
ice came full upon them. At the shock Dirk Peters was
thrown into the sea, but he clung to the ice block, and —
understand me, he saw the boat drift with the current, far,
very far, too far ! In vain did Pym try to rejoin his com-
panion, he could not; the boat drifted on and on, and
Pym, that poor dear Pym, was carried away. It is he who
has never come back, and he is there, still there ! "

If Hunt had been the half-breed in person he could
not have spoken with more heartfelt emotion of "poor
Pym."

It was then, in front of the "curtain of vapor," that
Arthur Pym and the half-breed had been separated from
each other. Dirk Peters had succeeded in returning from
the ice-world to America, whither he had conveyed the
notes that were communicated to Edgar Poe.

Hunt was minutely questioned upon all these points
and he replied, comformably, he declared, to what the half-
breed had told him many times. According to this state-
ment, Dirk Peters had Arthur Pym's note-book in his
pocket at the moment when the ice-block struck them, and
thus the journal which the half-breed placed at the dis-
posal of the American romance-writer was saved.

" Understand me," Hunt repeated, " for I tell you things
as I have them from Dirk Peters. While the drift was
carrying him away, he cried out with all his strength.
Pym, poor Pym, had already disappeared in the midst of
the vapor. The half-breed, feeding upon raw fish, drifted
to Tsalal Island, where he landed nearly half dead from
hunger."

"To Tsalal Island!" exclaimed Captain Len Guy.
" And how long was it since they had left it? "

AND PYM? 303

" Three weeks — yes, three weeks at the farthest, so Dirk
Peters told me."

" Then he must have found all that remained of the
crew of the Jane — my brother William and those who had
survived with him? "

"No," replied Hunt; "and Dirk Peters always believed
that they had perished — yes, to the very last man. There
was no one upon the island."

"No one?"

" Not a living soul."

"But the population?"

" No one ! No one, I tell you. The island was a desert
■ — yes, a desert ! "

This statement contradicted certain facts of which we
were absolutely certain. After all, though, it was possible
that when Dirk Peters returned to Tsalal Island, the
population, seized by who can tell what terror, had already
taken refuge upon the southwestern group, and that
William Guy and his companions were still hidden in the
gorges of Klock-Klock. That would explain why the half-
breed had not come across them, and also why the survivors
of the Jane had had nothing to fear during the eleven years
of their sojourn in the island. On the other hand, since
Patterson had left them there seven months previously, if
we did not find them, that must have been because they
had been obliged to leave Tsalal, the place being rendered
uninhabitable by the earthquake.

" So that," resumed Captain Len Guy, " on the return
of Dirk Peters, there was no longer an inhabitant on the
island?"

" No one," repeated Hunt, " no one. The half-breed did
not meet a single native."

"And what did Dirk Peters do?"

" Understand me. A forsaken boat lay there, at the back
of the bay, containing some dried meat and several casks of
water. The half breed got into it, and a south wind — yes,
south, very strong, the same that had driven the ice block,
with the cross current, towards Tsalal Island — carried him
on for weeks and weeks — to the iceberg barrier, through a
passage in it — you may believe me, I am telling you only
what Dirk Peters told me — and he cleared the polar circle."

" And beyond it? " I inquired.

304 THE SPHINX OF ICE

" Beyond it. He was picked up by an American whaler,
the Sandy Hook, and taken back to America."

Now, one thing at all events was clear. Edgar Poe had
never known Arthur Pym. This was the reason why, wish-
ing to leave his readers in exciting uncertainty, he had
brought Pym to an end " as sudden as it was deplorable,"
but without indicating the manner or the cause of his death.

" And yet, although Arthur Pym did not return, could it
be reasonably admitted that he had survived his companion
for any length of time, that he was still living, eleven years
having elapsed since his disappearance? "

" Yes, yes," replied Hunt.

And this he affirmed with the strong conviction that
Dirk Peters had infused into his mind while the two were
living together at Vandalia, in Illinois.

Now the question arose, was Hunt sane? Was it not
he who had stolen into my cabin in a fit of insanity — of
this I had no doubt — and murmured in my ear the words :
" And Pym — poor Pym? "

Yes, and I had not been dreaming! In short, if all that
Hunt had just said was true, if he was but the faithful
reporter of secrets which had been entrusted to him by
Dirk Peters, ought he to be believed when he repeated in
a tone of mingled command and entreaty, " Pym is not
dead. Pym is there. Poor Pym must not be forsaken ! "

When I had made an end of questioning Hunt, Captain
Len Guy came out of his meditative mood, profoundly
troubled, and gave the word, " All hands forward ! "

When the men were assembled around him, he said,
"Listen to me, Hunt, and seriously consider the gravity
of the questions I am about to put to you."

Hunt held his head up, and ran his eyes over the crew
of the Halbrane.

" You assert, Hunt, that all you have told us concerning
Arthur Pym is true? "

"Yes."

" You knew Dirk Peters? "

"Yes."

"You lived some years with him in Illinois?"

" Nine years."

"And he often related these things to yon,?"

"Yes."

AND PYM? 305

" And, for your own part, you have no doubt that he told
you the exact truth? "

" None."

" Well, then, did it never occur to him that some of the
crew of the Jane might have remained on Tsalal Island? "

" No."

"He believed that William Guy and his companions
must all have perished in the landslip of the hill of Klock-
Klock?"

"Yes, and from what he often repeated to me, Pym
believed it also."

" Where did you see Dirk Peters for the last time? "

" At Vandalia."

" How long ago ? "

" Over two years."

"And which of you two was the first to leave Van-
dalia?"

I thought I detected a slight hesitation in Hunt before
he answered, " We left the place together."

" You, to go to ? "

" The Falklands."

"And he?"

"He?" repeated Hunt.

And then his wandering gaze fixed itself on Martin Holt,
our sailing-master, whose life he had saved at the risk of
his own during the tempest.

" Well ! " resumed the captain, " do you not understand
what I am asking you? "

" Yes."

" Then answer me. When Dirk Peters left Illinois, did
he finally give up America? "

" Yes."

" To go whither ? Speak ! "

" To the Falklands."

" And where is he now? "

" He stands before you."

Dirk Peters! Hunt was the half-breed Dirk Peters, the
devoted companion of Arthur Pym, he whom Captain Guy
had so long sought for in the United States, and whose
presence was probably to furnish us with a fresh reason
for pursuing our daring campaign.

I shall not be at all surprised if my readers have already

V. XIV Verne

306 THE SPHINX OF ICE

recognized Dirk Peters in Hunt; indeed I shall be aston-
ished if they have failed to do so. The extraordinary
thing is that Captain Len Guy and myself, who had read
Edgar Poe's book over and over again, did not see at once,
when Hunt came on the ship at the Falklands, that he and
the half-breed were identical! I can only admit that we
were both blindfolded by some hidden action of Fate, just
when certain pages of that book ought to have effectually
cleared our vision.

There was no doubt whatever that Hunt really was Dirk
Peters. Although he was eleven years older, he answered
in every particular to the description of him given by
Arthur Pym, except that he was no longer " of fierce
aspect." In fact, the half-breed had changed with age and
the experience of terrible scenes through which he had
passed; nevertheless, he was still the faithful companion to
whom Arthur Pym had often owed his safety, that same
Dirk Peters who loved him as his own son, and who had
never — no, never — lost the hope of finding him again one
day amid the awful Antarctic wastes.

Now, why had Dirk Peters hidden himself in the Falk-
lands under the name of Hunt? Why, since his embarka-
tion on the Halbrane, had he kept up that incognito? Why
had he not told who he was, since he was aware of the in-
tentions of the captain, who was about to make every
effort to save his countrymen by following the course of
the Jane?

Why ? No doubt because he feared that his name would
inspire horror. Was it not the name of one who had
shared in the horrible scenes of the Grampus, who had
killed Parker, the sailor, who had fed upon the man's flesh,
and quenched his thirst in the man's blood? To induce
him to reveal his name he must needs be assured that the
Halbrane would attempt to discover and rescue Arthur
Pym!

And as to the existence of Arthur Pym? I confess that
my reason did not rebel against the admission of it as a
possibility. The imploring cry of the half-breed, " Pym,
poor Pym ! he must not be forsaken ! " troubled me pro-
foundly. Assuredly, since I had resolved to take part in
the expedition of the Halbrane, I was no longer the same
man!

AND PYM? 307

A long silence had followed the astounding declaration
of the half-breed. None dreamed of doubting his veracity.
He had said, " I am. Dirk Peters." He was Dirk Peters.

At length, moved by irresistible impulse, I said : " My
friends, before any decision is made, let us carefully con-
sider the situation. Should we not lay up everlasting
regret for ourselves if we were to abandon our expedition
at the very moment when it promises to succeed? Reflect
upon this, captain, and you, my companions. It is less
than seven months since Patterson left your countrymen
alive on Tsalal Island. If they were there then, the fact
proves that for eleven years they had been enabled to exist
on the resources provided by the island, having nothing to
fear from the islanders, some of whom had fallen victims
to circumstances unknown to us, and others had probably
transferred themselves to some neighboring island. This
is quite plain, and I do not see how any objection can be
raised to my reasoning."

No one made answer: there was none to be made.

"If we have not come across the captain of the Jane
and his people," I resumed, " it is because they have been
obliged to abandon Tsalal Island since Patterson's depar-
ture. Why? In my belief, it was because the earth-
quake had rendered the island uninhabitable. Now, they
would only have required a native boat to gain either an-
other island or some point of the Antarctic continent by the
aid of the southern current. I hardly hesitate to assert
that all this has occurred; but in any case, I know, and I
repeat, that we shall have done nothing if we do not per-
severe in the search on which the safety of your country-
men depends."

I questioned my audience by a look. No answer.

Captain Len Guy, whose emotion was unrestrained,
bowed his head, for he felt that I was right, that by invok-
ing the duties of humanity I was prescribing the only
course open to men with feeling hearts.

"And what is in question? " I continued, after the silent
pause. " To accomplish a few degrees of latitude, and
that while the sea is open, while we have two months of
good weather to look for, and nothing to fear from the
southern winter. I certainly should not ask you to brave
its severity. And shall we hesitate, when the Halbrane

308 THE SPHINX OF ICE

is abundantly furnished, her crew complete and in good
health? Shall we take fright at imaginary dangers?
Shall we not have courage to go on, on, thither ? " And
I pointed to the southern horizon. Dirk Peters pointed to it
also, with an imperative gesture which spoke for him.

Still, the eyes of all were fixed upon us, but there was no
response. I continued to urge every argument, and to
quote every example in favor of the safety of pursuing our
voyage, but the silence was unbroken, and now the men
stood with eyes cast down.

I was asking myself whether I had or had not succeeded
in inspiring my companions with my own belief, when
Captain Len Guy spoke :

" Dirk Peters," he said, " do you assert that Arthur Pym
and you after your departure from Tsalal Island saw land
in the direction of the south? "

" Yes, land," answered the half-breed. " Islands or
continent — understand me — and I believe that Pym, poor
Pym, is waiting there until aid comes to him."

" There, where perhaps William Guy and his companions
are also waiting," said I, to bring back the discussion to
more practical points.

Captain Len Guy reflected for a little while, and then
spoke : " Is it true, Dirk Peters," he asked, " that beyond
the eighty-fourth parallel the horizon is shut in by that cur-
tain of vapor which is described in the narrative? Have
you seen — seen with your own eyes — those cataracts in the
air, that gulf in which Arthur Pym's boat was lost? "

The half-breed looked from one to the other of us, and
shook his big head. " I don't know," he said. " What
are you asking me about, captain? A curtain of vapor?
Yes, perhaps, and also appearances of land towards the
south."

Evidently Dirk Peters had never read Edgar Poe's book,
and very likely did not know how to read. After having
handed over Pym's journal, he had not troubled himself
about its publication. Having retired to Illinois at first
and to the Falklands afterwards, he had no notion of the
stir that the work had made, or of the fantastic and base-
less climax to which our great poet had brought those
strange adventures. And, besides, might not Arthur Pym
himself, with his tendency to the supernatural, have fancied

AND PYM? 309

that he saw these wondrous things, due solely to his
imaginative brain?

Then, for the first time in the course of this discussion,
West spoke. I had no idea which side he would take. The
first words he uttered were, " Captain, your orders? "

Captain Guy turned towards his crew, who surrounded
him, both the old and the new. Hearne remained in the
background, ready to intervene if he should think it neces-
sary.

The captain questioned the boatswain and his comrades,
whose devotion was unreservedly his, by a long and anxious
look, and I heard him mutter between his teeth, " Ah ! if
it depended only on me! if I were sure of the assent and
the help of them all ! "

Then Hearne spoke roughly. " Captain," said he, " it's
two months since we left the Falklands. Now, my com-
panions were engaged for a voyage which was not to
take them farther beyond the icebergs than Tsalal Island."

" That is not so," exclaimed Captain Len Guy. " No !
That is not so. I recruited you all for an enterprise which
I have a right to pursue, so far as I please."

" Beg pardon," said Hearne, coolly, " but we have come
to a point which no navigator has ever yet reached, in a sea,
no ship except the Jane has ever ventured into before us,
and therefore my comrades and I mean to return to the
Falklands before the bad season. From there you can re-
turn to Tsalal Island, and even go on to the Pole, if you so
please."

A murmur of approbation greeted his words; no doubt
the sealing-master justly interpreted the sentiments of the
majority, composed of the new recruits. To go against
their opinion, to exact the obedience of these ill-disposed
men, and under such conditions to risk the unknown
Antarctic waters, would have been an act of temerity — or,
rather, an act of madness — that would have brought about
some catastrophe.

Nevertheless, West, advancing upon Hearne, said to him
in a threatening tone, " Who gave you leave to speak ? "

" The captain questioned us," replied Hearne. " I had
a right to reply."

The man uttered these words with such insolence that
West, who was generally so self-restrained, was about to

3io THE SPHINX OF ICE

give free vent to his wrath, when Captain Len Guy,
stopping him by a motion of his hand, said quietly, " Be
calm, Jem. Nothing can be done unless we are all agreed.
What is your opinion, Hurliguerly? "

"It is very clear, captain," replied the boatswain. "I
will obey your orders, whatever they may be! It is our
duty not to forsake William Guy and the others so long
as any chance of saving them remains."

The boatswain paused for a moment, while several of
the sailors gave unequivocal signs of approbation.

" As for what concerns Arthur Pym "

"There is no question of Arthur Pym," struck in the
captain, "but only of my brother William and his com-
panions."

I saw at this moment that Dirk Peters was about to pro-
test, and caught hold of his arm. He shook with anger,
but kept silence.

The captain continued his questioning of the men, desir-
ing to know by name all those upon whom he might reckon.
The old crew to a man acquiesced in his proposals, and
pledged themselves to obey his orders implicitly and follow
him whithersoever he chose to go.

Three only of the recruits joined those faithful seamen;
these were English sailors. The others were of Hearne's
opinion, holding that for them the campaign was ended at
Tsalal Island. They therefore refused to go beyond that
point, and formally demanded that the ship should be
steered northward so as to clear the icebergs at the most
favorable period of the season.

Twenty men were on their side, and to constrain them to
lend a hand to the working of the ship if she were to be
diverted to the south would have been to provoke them to
rebel. There was but one resource : to arouse their covet-
ousness, to strike the chord of self-interest.

I intervened, therefore, and addressed them in a tone
which placed the seriousness of my proposal beyond a
doubt. "Men of the Halbrane, listen to me! Just as
various States have done for voyages of discovery in the
Polar Regions, I offer a reward to the crew of this
schooner. Two thousand dollars shall be shared among
you for every degree we make beyond the eighty-fourth
parallel."

AND PYM? 311

Nearly seventy dollars to each man; this was a strong
temptation. I felt that I had hit the mark.

" I will sign an agreement to that effect," I continued,
"with Captain Len Guy as your representative, and the
sums gained shall be handed to you on your return, no
matter under what conditions that return be accomplished."

I waited for the effect of this promise, and, to tell the
truth, I had not to wait long.

" Hurrah ! " cried the boatswain, acting as fugleman to
his comrades, who almost unanimously added their cheers
to his. Hearne offered no farther opposition; it would
always be in his power to put in his word when the cir-
cumstances should be more propitious.

Thus the bargain was made, and, to gain my ends, I
would have made a heavier sacrifice. It is true we were
within seven degrees of the South Pole, and, if the Hal-
brane should indeed reach that spot, it would never cost
me more than fourteen thousand dollars.

Early in the morning of the 27th of December the Hal-
brane put out to sea, heading southwest. After the scene
of the preceding evening Captain Len Guy had taken a few
hours' rest. I met him next day on deck while West was
going about fore and aft, and he called us both to him.

" Mr. Jeorling," he said, " it was with a terrible pang
that I came to the resolution to bring our schooner back
to the north ! I felt I had not done all I ought to do for
our unhappy fellow-countrymen; but I knew that the
majority of the crew would be against me if I insisted on
going beyond Tsalal Island'.'

"That is true, captain; there was a beginning of in-
discipline on board, and perhaps it might have ended in a
revolt." .

" A revolt we should have speedily put down," said
West, coolly, " were it only by knocking Hearne, who is
always exciting the mutinous men, on the head."

" And you would have done well, Jem," said the captain.
" Only, justice being satisfied, what would have become of
the agreement together, which we must have in order to
do anything? "

"Of course, captain, it is better that things passed off
without violence! But for the future Hearne will have
to look out for himself."

3i2 THE SPHINX OF ICE

"His companions," observed the captain, " are now
greedy for the prizes that have been promised them. The
greed of gain will make them more willing and persevering.
The generosity of Mr. Jeorling has succeeded where our
entreaties would undoubtedly have failed. I thank him for
it."

Captain Len Guy held out a hand to me, which I grasped.

After some general conversation relating to our purpose,
the ship's course, and the proposed verification of the bear-
ings of the group of islands on the west of Tsalal which
is described by Arthur Pym, the captain said :

" As it is possible that the ravages of the earthquake
did not extend to this group, and that it may still be in-
habited, we must be on our guard in approaching the
bearings."

" Which cannot be very far off," I added. " And then,
captain, who knows but that your brother and his sailors
might have taken refuge on one of these islands ! "

This was admissible, but not a consoling eventuality,
for in that case the poor fellows would have fallen into
the hands of those savages of whom they were rid while
they remained at Tsalal.

"Jem," resumed Captain Len Guy, "we are making
good way, and no doubt land will be signaled in a few
hours. Give orders for the watch to be careful."

" It's done, captain."

"There is a man in the crow's-nest?"

" Dirk Peters himself, at his own request."

"All right, Jem; we may trust his vigilance."

" And also his eyes," I added, " for he is gifted with
amazing sight."

For two hours of very quick sailing not the smallest in-
dication of the group of eight islands was visible.

" It is incomprehensible that we have not come in sight
of them," said the captain. " I reckon that the Halbrane
has made sixty miles since this morning, and the islands in
question are tolerably close together."

" Then, captain, we must conclude — and it is not unlikely
—that the group to which Tsalal belonged has entirely dis-
appeared in the earthquake."

" Land ahead! " cried Dirk Peters.

We looked, but could discern nothing on the sea, nor

AND PYM? 313

was it until a quarter of an hour had elapsed that our
glasses enabled us to recognize the tops of a few scattered
islets shining in the oblique rays of the sun, two or three
miles to the westward.

What a change! How had it come about? Arthur
Pym described spacious islands, but only a small number
of tiny islets, half a dozen at most, protruded from the
waters.

At this moment the half-breed came sliding down from
his lofty perch and jumped to the deck.

" Well, Dirk Peters! Have you recognized the group? "
asked the captain.

"The group?" replied the half-breed, shaking his head.
" No, I have only seen the tops of five or six islets. There
is nothing but stone heaps there — not a single island! "

As the schooner approached we easily recognized these
fragments of the group, which had been almost entirely
destroyed on its western side. The scattered remains
formed dangerous reefs which might seriously injure the
keel or the sides of the Halbrane, and there was no inten-
tion of risking the ship's safety among them. We accord-
ingly cast anchor at a safe distance, and a boat was lowered
for the reception of Captain Len Guy, the boatswain, Dirk
Peters, Holt, two men and myself. The still, transparent
water, as Peters steered us skillfully between the projecting
edges of the little reefs, allowed us to see, not a bed of sand
strewn with shells, but blackish heaps which were over-
grown by land vegetation, tufts of plants not belonging to
the marine flora that floated on the surface of the sea.
Presently we landed on one of the larger islets which rose
to about thirty feet above the sea.

" Do the tides rise sometimes to that height? " I inquired
of the captain.

" Never," he replied, " and perhaps we shall discover
some remains of the vegetable kingdom, of habitations, or
of an encampment."

" The best thing we can do," said the boatswain, " is to
follow Dirk Peters, who has already distanced us. The
half-breed's lynx eyes will see what we can't."

Peters had indeed scaled the eminence in a moment, and
we presently joined him on the top.

The islet was strewn with remains (probably of those

314 THE SPHINX OF ICE

domestic animals mentioned in Arthur Pym's journal), but
these bones differed from the bones on Tsalal Island by the
fact that the heaps dated from a few months only. This
then agreed with the recent period at which we placed the
earthquake. Besides, plants and tufts of flowers were
growing here and there.

" And these are this year's," I cried, " no southern win-
ter has passed over them."

These facts having been ascertained, no doubt could re-
main respecting the date of the cataclysm after the depar-
ture of Patterson. The destruction of the population of
Tsalal whose bones lay about the village was not attribut-
able to that catastrophe. William Guy and the five sailors
of the Jane had been able to fly in time, since no bones that
could be theirs had been found on the island.

Where had they taken refuge? This was the everpress-
ing question. What answer were we to obtain? Must
we conclude that having reached one of these islets they had
perished in the swallowing-up of the archipelago? We de-
bated this point, as may be supposed, at a length and with
detail which I can only indicate here. Suffice it to say that
a decision was arrived at to the following effect. Our sole
chance of discovering the unfortunate castaways was to
continue our voyage for two or three parallels farther; the
goal was there, and which of us would not sacrifice even
his life to attain it?

" God is guiding us, Mr. Jeorling," said Captain Len
Guy.

CHAPTER VIII

A REVELATION

The following day, the 29th of December, at six in the
morning, the schooner set sail with a northeast wind, and
this time her course was due south. The two succeeding
days passed wholly without incident; neither land nor any
sign of land was observed. The men on the Halbrane took
great hauls of fish, to their own satisfaction and ours. It
was New Year's Day, 1840, two months and five days
since the Halbrane had sailed from the Falklands. The
half-breed, between whom and myself an odd kind of tacit
understanding subsisted, approached the bench on which I

A REVELATION 315

was sitting — the captain was in his cabin, and West was
not in sight — with a plain intention of conversing with me.
The subject may easily be guessed.

" Dirk Peters," said I, taking up the subject at once, " do
you wish that we should talk of him?"

" Him ! " he murmured.

"You have remained faithful to his memory, Dirk
Peters."

" Forget him, sir I Never! "

"He is always there — before you?"

"Always! So many dangers shared! That makes
brothers! No, it makes a father and his son! Yes!
And I have seen America again, but Pym — poor Pym —
he is still 'beyond there ! "

" Dirk Peters," I asked, " have you any idea of the route
which you and Arthur Pym followed in the boat after
your departure from Tsalal Island?"

" None, sir ! Poor Pym had no longer any instrument
— you know — sea machines — for looking at the sun. We
could not know, except that for the eight days the current,
pushed us towards the south, and the wind also. A fine
breeze and a fair sea, and our shirts for a sail."

" Yes, white linen shirts, which frightened your prisoner
Nu Nu "

" Perhaps so — I did not notice. But if Pym has said
so, Pym must be believed."

" And during those eight days you were able to supply
yourselves with food ? "

" Yes, sir, and the days after — we and the savage. You
know — the three turtles that were in the boat. These
animals contain a store of fresh water — and their flesh is
sweet, even raw. Oh, raw flesh, sir ! "

# He lowered his voice, and threw a furtive glance around
him. ^ It would be impossible to describe the frightful ex-
pression of the half-breed's face as he thus recalled the
terrible scenes of the Grampus. And it was not the ex-
pression of a cannibal of Australia or the New Hebrides,
but that of a man who is pervaded by an insurmountable
horror of himself.

" Was it not on the 1st of March, Dirk Peters," I asked
" that you perceived for the first time the veil of gray vapor
shot with luminous and moving rays? "

316 THE SPHINX OF ICE

"I do not remember, sir, but if Pym says it was so,
Pym must be believed."

" Did he never speak to you of fiery rays which fell
from the sky?" I did not use the term "polar aurora,"
lest the half-breed should not understand it.

" Never, sir," said Dirk Peters, after some reflection.

" Did you not remark that the color of the sea changed,
grew white like milk, and that its surface became ruffled
around your boat?"

"It may have been so, sir; I did not observe. The
boat went on and on, and my head went with it."

"And then, the fine powder, as fine as ashes, that
fell "

" I don't remember it."

" Was it not snow ? "

" Snow ? Yes ! No ! The weather was warm. What
did Pym say? Pym must be believed." He lowered his
voice and continued : " But Pym will tell you all that, sir.
He knows. I do not know. He saw, and you will believe
him."

" Yes, Dirk Peters, I shall believe him."

" We are to go in search of him, are we not? "

" I hope so."

" After we shall have found William Guy and the sailors
of the Jane? "

"Yes, after."

"And even if we do not find them? "

" Yes, even in that case. I think I shall induce our cap-
tain. I think he will not refuse "

" No, he will not refuse to bring help to a man — a man
like him!"

" And yet," I said, " if William Guy and his people are
living, can we admit that Arthur Pym "

"Living? Yes! Living !" cried the half-breed. "By
the great spirit of my fathers, he is — he is waiting for me,
my poor Pym! How joyful he will be when he clasps
his old Dirk in his arms, and I — I, when I feel him, there,
there." And the huge chest of the man heaved like a
stormy sea. Then he went away, leaving me inexpressibly
affected by the revelation of the tenderness for his unfor-
tunate companion that lay deep in the heart of this semi-
savage.

A REVELATION 317

In the meantime I said but little to Captain Len Guy,
whose whole heart and soul were set on the rescue of his
brother, of the possibility of our finding Arthur Gordon
Pym. Time enough, if in the course of this strange en-
terprise of ours we succeeded in that object, to urge upon
them one still more visionary.

At length, on the 7th of January — according to Dirk
Peters, who had fixed it only by the time that had expired
— we arrived at the place where Nu Nu the savage breathed
his last, lying in the bottom of the boat. On that day an
observation gave 86° 33' for the latitude, the longitude re-
maining the same between the forty-second and the forty-
third meridians. Here it was, according to the half-breed,
that the two fugitives were parted after the collision be-
tween the boat and the floating mass of ice. But a ques-
tion now arose. Since the mass of ice carrying away Dirk
Peters had drifted towards the north, was this because it
was subjected to the action of a counter-current?

Yes, that must have been so, for our schooner had not
felt the influence of the current which had guided her on
leaving the Falklands, for fully four days. And yet, there
was nothing surprising in that, for everything is variable
in the austral seas. Happily, the fresh breeze from the
northeast continued to blow, and the Halbrane made prog-
ress toward higher waters, thirteen degrees in advance
upon Weddell's ship and two degrees upon the Jane. As
for the land — islands or continent — which Captain Len
Guy was seeking on the surface of that vast ocean, it did
not appear. I was well aware that he was gradually losing
confidence in our enterprise.

As for me, I was possessed by the desire to rescue Arthur
Pym as well as the survivors of the Jane. And yet, how
could he have survived! But then, the half-breed's fixed
idea! Supposing our captain were to give the order to
go back, what would Dirk Peters do? Throw himself into
the sea rather than return northwards? This it was which
made me dread some act of violence on his part, when he
heard the greater number of the sailors protesting against
this insensate voyage, and talking of putting the ship about
— especially towards Hearne, who was stealthily inciting his
comrades of the Falklands to insubordination.

It was absolutely necessary not to allow discipline to

3i8 THE SPHINX OF ICE

decline, or discouragement to grow among the crew; so
that, on the 7th of January, Captain Len Guy at my re-
quest assembled the men and addressed them in the follow-
ing words : " Sailors of the Halbrane, since our departure
from Tsalal Island, the schooner has gained two degrees
southwards, and I now inform you, that, comformably
with the engagement signed by Mr. Jeorling, four thousand
dollars — that is two thousand dollars for each degree — are
due to you, and will be paid at the end of the voyage."

These words were greeted with some murmurs of satis-
faction, but not with cheers, except those of Hurliguerly
the boatswain, and Endicott the cook, which found no
echo.

On the 13th of January a conversation took place be-
tween the boatswain and myself of a nature to justify my
anxiety concerning the temper of our crew.

The men were at breakfast, with the exception of Drap
and Stern. The schooner was cutting the water under a
stiff breeze. I was walking between the fore and main
masts, watching the great flights of birds wheeling about
the ship with deafening clangor, and the petrels occasion-
ally perching on our yards. No effort was made to catch
or shoot them; it would have been useless cruelty, since
their oily and stringy flesh is not eatable.

At this moment Hurliguerly approached me, looked at-
tentively at the birds, and said, " I remark one thing, Mr.
Jeorling."

" What is it, boatswain ? "

" That these birds do not fly so directly south as they
did up to the present. Some of them are setting north."

" I have noticed the same fact."

"And I add, Mr. Jeorling, that those who are below
there will come back without delay."

"And you conclude from this?"

" I conclude that they feel the approach of winter."

"Of winter?"

" Undoubtedly."

" No, no, boatswain ; the temperature is so high that
the birds can't want to get to less cold regions so pre-
maturely."

"Oh! prematurely, Mr. Jeorling."

" Yes, boatswain ; do we not know that navigators have

A REVELATION 319

always been able to frequent the Antarctic waters until the
month of March? "

" Not at such a latitude. Besides, there are precocious
winters as well as precocious summers. The fine season
this year was full two months in advance, and it is to be
feared the bad season may come sooner than usual."

" That is very likely," I replied. " After all, it does not
signify to us, since our campaign will certainly be over in
three weeks."

" If some obstacle does not arise beforehand, Mr. Joer-
Hng."

" And what obstacle? "

" For instance, a continent stretching to the south and
barring our way."

"A continent, Hurliguerly ! "

" I should not be at all surprised."

"And, in fact, there would be nothing surprising
in it."

" A.s for the lands seen by Dirk Peters," said the boat-
swain, "where the men of the Jane might have landed
on one or another of them, I don't believe in them."

"Why?"

" Because William Guy, who can only have had a small
craft at his disposal, could not have got so far."

" I do not feel quite so sure of that."

" Nevertheless, Mr. Joerling "

" What would there be so surprising in William Guy's
being carried to land somewhere by the action of the cur-
rents? He did not remain on board his boat for eight
months, I suppose. His companions and he may have been
able to land on an island, or even on a continent, and that
is a sufficient motive for us to pursue our search."

" No doubt — but all are not of your opinion," replied
Hurliguerly, shaking his head.

"I know," said I, " and that is what makes me most
anxious. Is the ill-feeling increasing?"

"I fear so, Mr. Jeorling. The satisfaction of having
gained several hundreds of dollars is already lessened, and
the prospect of gaining a few more hundreds does not put
a stop to disputes. And yet the prize is tempting! From
Tsalal Island to the pole, admitting that we might get
there, is six degrees. Now six degrees at two thousand

32o THE SPHINX OF ICE

dollars each makes twelve thousand dollars for thirty men,
that is four hundred dollars a head. A nice little sum to
slip into one's pocket on the return of the Halbrane, but,
notwithstanding, that fellow Hearne works so wickedly
upon his comrades that I believe they are ready to 'bout
ship in spite of anybody."

" I can believe that of the recruits, boatswain, but the

old crew "

" H — m ! there are three or four of those who are begin-
ning to reflect, and they are not easy in their minds about
the prolongation of the voyage."

" I fancy Captain Len Guy and his lieutenants will know
how to get themselves obeyed."

" We shall see, Mr. Jeorling. But may it not happen
that our captain himself will get disheartened; that the
sense of his responsibility will prevail, and that he will
renounce his enterprise?"

Yes! this was what I feared, and there was no remedy
on that side.

" As for my friend Endicott, Mr. Joerling, I answer
for him as for myself. We would go to the end of the
world — if the world has an end — did the captain want to
go there. True, we two, Dirk Peters and yourself, are but
a few to be a law to the others."

" And what do you think of the half-breed? " I asked.
"Well, our men appear to accuse him chiefly of the
prolongation of the voyage. You see, Mr. Jeorling,
though you have a good deal to do with it, you pay, and
pay well, while this crazy fellow, Dirk Peters, persists in
asserting that his poor Pym is still living — his poor Pym
who was drowned, or frozen, or crushed — killed, anyhow,
one way or another, eleven years ago ! "

So completely was this my own belief that I never dis-
cussed the subject with the half-breed.

" You see, Mr. Jeorling," resumed the boatswain, " at
the first some curiosity was felt about Dirk Peters. Then,
after he saved Martin Holt, it was interest. Certainly, he
was no more talkative than before, and the bear came no
oftener out of his den! But now we know what he is,
and no one likes him the better for that. At all events it
was he who induced our captain, by talking of land to the
south of Tsalal Island, to make this voyage, and it is owing

AT THE BASE OF THE SPHINX.

As we were approaching the huge mound the mist cleared away,
and the form stood out with greater distinctness. It was, as I have
said, almost that of a sphinx, a dusky-hued sphinx, as though the mat-
ter which composed it had been oxidized by the inclemency of the polar
climate.

And then a possibility flashed into my mind, an hypothesis which
explained these astonishing phenomena.

" Ah ! " I exclaimed, "a lodestone ! that is it ! A magnet with pro-
digious power of attraction ! " — Page 383.

A REVELATION 321

to him that he has reached the eighty-sixth degree of lati-
tude."

" That is quite true, boatswain."

" And so, Mr. Jeorling, I am always afraid that one of
these days somebody will do Peters an ill turn."

" Dirk Peters would defend himself, and I should pity
the man who laid a finger on him."

" Quite so. It would not be good for anybody to be in
his hands, for they could bend iron ! But then, all being
against him, he would be forced into the hold."

" Well, well, we have not yet come to that, I hope, and
I count on you, Hurliguerly, to prevent any attempt against
Dirk Peters. Reason with your men. Make them under-
stand that we have time to return to the Falklands before
the end of the fine season. Their reproaches must not be
allowed to provide the captain with an excuse for turning
back before the object is attained."

" Count on me, Mr. Jeorling. I will serve you to the
best of my ability."

" You will not repent of doing so, Hurliguerly. Nothing
is easier than to add a round O to the four hundred dollars
which each man is to have, if that man be something more
than a sailor — even were his functions simply those of
boatswain on board the Halbrane"

Nothing important occurred on the 13th and 14th, but
a fresh fall in the temperature took place. Captain Len
Guy called my attention to this, pointing out the flocks of
birds continuously flying north.

While he was speaking to me I felt that his last hopes
were fading. And who could wonder? Of the land in-
dicated by the half-breed nothing was seen, and we were
already more than one hundred and eighty miles from
Tsalal Island. At every point of the compass was the
sea, nothing but the vast sea with its desert horizon which
the sun's disk had been nearing since the 21st of December,
and would touch on the 21st March, prior to disappearing
during the six months of the austral night. Honestly, was
it possible to admit that William Guy and his five com-
panions could have accomplished such a distance on a frail
craft, and was there one chance in a hundred that they
could ever be recovered?

On the 15th of January an observation most carefully

V. XIV Verne

322' THE SPHINX OE ICE

taken gave 43 ° 13' longitude and 88° 17' latitude. The
Halbrane was less than two degrees from the pole.
! Captain Len Guy did not seek to conceal the result of
this observation, and the sailors knew enough of nautical
calculation to understand it. Besides, if the consequences
had to be explained to them, was not Holt there to do this,
and Hearne, to exaggerate them to the utmost?
j During the afternoon I had indubitable proof that the
sealing-master had been working on the minds of the crew.
The men, emerging at the foot of the mainmast, talked in
whispers and cast evil glances at us. Two or three sailors
made threatening gestures undisguisedly; then arose such
angry mutterings that West could not feign to be deaf to
them.

He strode forward and called out to them : " Silence,
there ! The first man who speaks will have to reckon with
me! "

Captain Len Guy was shut up in his cabin, but every
moment I expected to see him come out, give one last long
look around the waste of waters, and then order the ship's
course to be reversed. Nevertheless, on the next day the
schooner was sailing in the same direction. Unfortunately
< — for the circumstance had some gravity — a mist was be-
ginning to come down on -us. I could not keep still, I
confess. My apprehensions were redoubled. It was evi-
dent that West was only awaiting the order to change the
helm. What mortal anguish soever the captain's must be,
I understood too well that he would not give that order
without hesitation.

It was about half-past two, and, not feeling well, I had
gone to my cabin, where the side window was open, while
that at the back was closed. I heard a knock at the door,
and asked who was there.

" Dirk Peters," was the reply.

" You want to speak to me ? "

"Yes."

" I am coming out."

"I should prefer — may I come into your cabin?"

" Come in."

He entered, and shut the door behind him.

Without rising I signed to him to seat himself in the
arm-chair, but he remained standing.

A REVELATION 323

" What do you want of me? " I asked at length, as he
seemed unable to make up his mind to speak.

" I want to tell you something — because it seems well
that you should know it, and you only. In the crew — they
must never know it."

" If it is a grave matter, and you fear any indiscretion,
Dirk Peters, why do you speak to me ? "

" If ! — I must ! Ah, yes ! I must ! It is impossible to
keep it there ! It weighs on me like a stone."

And Dirk Peters struck his breast violently.

Then he resumed. " Yes ! I am always afraid it may
escape me during my sleep, and that someone will hear it,
for I dream of it, and in dreaming "

"You dream," I replied, "and of what?"

" Of him, of him. Therefore it is that I sleep in corners,
all alone, for fear that his true name should be discovered."

Then it struck me that the half-breed was perhaps about
to respond to an inquiry which I had not yet made — why
he had gone to live at the Falklands under the name of
Hunt after leaving Illinois? I put the question to him,
and he replied, " It is not that; no, it is not that I wish "

" I insist, Dirk Peters, and I desire to know in the first
place for what reason you did not remain in America, for
what reason you chose the Falklands "

" For what reason, sir? Because I wanted to get near
Pym, my poor Pym — because I hoped to find an oppor-
tunity at the Falklands of embarking on a whaling ship
bound for the southern sea."

" But that name of Hunt? "

" I would not bear my own name any longer — on ac-
count of the affair of the Grampus." The half-breed was
alluding to the scene of the " short straw " (or lot-draw-
ing) on board the American brig, when it was decided be-
tween Augustus Barnard, Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters, and
Parker, the sailor, that one of the four should be sacrificed
— as food for the three others. I remembered the ob-
stinate resistance of Arthur Pym, and how it was impos-
sible for him to refuse to take his part in the tragedy about
. to be performed — he says this himself — and the horrible
act whose remembrance must poison the existence of all
those who had survived it.

Oh, that lot-drawing! The "short straws" were little

324 THE SPHINX OF ICE

splinters of wood of uneven length which Arthur Pym
held in his hand. The shortest was to designate him who
should be immolated. And he speaks of the sort of in-
voluntary fierce desire to deceive his companions that he
felt — " to cheat " is the word he uses — but he did not
" cheat," and he asks pardon for having had the idea ! Let
us try to put ourselves in his place !

He made up his mind, and held out his hand, closed
on the four slips. Dirk Peters drew the first Fate had
favored him. He had nothing more to fear. Arthur
Pym calculated that one more chance was against him.
Arthur Barnard drew in his turn. Saved, too, he! And
now Arthur Pym reckoned up the exact chances between
Parker and himself. At that moment all the ferocity of
the tiger entered into his soul. He conceived an intense
and devilish hatred of his poor comrade, his fellow-man.

Five minutes elapsed before Parker dared to draw. At
length Arthur Pym, standing with closed eyes, not know-
ing whether the lot was for or against him, felt a hand
seize his own. It was the hand of Dirk Peters. Arthur
Pym had escaped death. And then the half-breed rushed
upon Parker and stabbed him in the back. The frightful
repast followed — immediately — and words are not suffi-
cient to convey to the mind the horror of the reality.

Yes! I knew that hideous story, not a fable, as I had
long believed. This was what had happened on board the
Grampus, on the 16th of July, 1827, and vainly did I try to
understand Dirk Peters's reason for recalling it to my
recollection.

" Well, Dirk Peters," I said, " I will ask you, since you
were anxious to hide your name, what it was that induced
you to reveal it, when the Halbrane was moored off Tsalal
Island; why you did not keep to the name of Hunt? "

" Sir — understand me — there was hesitation about going
farther — they wanted to turn back. This was decided,
and then I thought that by telling who I was — Dirk Peters
— of the Grampus — poor Pym's companion — I should be
heard; they would believe with me that he was still liv-
ing, they would go in search of him ! Andi yet, it was a
serious thing to do — to acknowledge that I was Dirk Peters,
he who had killed Parker! But hunger, devouring
hunger!"

A REVELATION 325

"Come, come, Dirk Peters," said I, "you exaggerate!
If the lot had fallen to you, you would have incurred the
fate of Parker. You cannot be charged with a crime."

"Sir, would Parker's family speak of it as you do?"

" His family ! Had he then relations ? "

" Yes — and that is why Pym changed his name in the
narrative. Parker's name was not Parker — it was "

" Arthur Pym was right," I said, interrupting him
quickly, " and as for me, I do not wish to know Parker's
real name. Keep this secret."

" No, I will tell it to you. It weighs too heavily on me,
and I shall be relieved, perhaps, when I have told you, Mr.
Jeorling."

" No, Dirk Peters, no ! "

" His name was Holt— Ned Holt."

" Holt ! " I exclaimed, " the same name as our sailing-
master's."

" Who is his own brother, sir."

"Martin Holt?"

" Yes — understand me — his brother."

" But he believes that Ned Holt perished in the wreck
of the Grampus with the rest."

" It was not so, and if he learned that I "

Just at that instant a violent shock flung me out of my
bunk. The schooner had made such a lurch to the port
side that she was near foundering.

I heard an angry voice cry out : " What dog is that at the
helm ? "

It was the voice of West, and the person he addressed
was Hearne. I rushed out of my cabin.

" Have you let the wheel go? " repeated West, who had
seized Hearne by the collar of his jersey.

" Lieutenant — I don't know "

" Yes, I tell you, you have let it go. A little more and
the schooner would have capsized under full sail."

" Gratian," cried West, calling one of the sailors, " take
the helm; and you, Hearne, go down into the hold."

On a sudden the cry of "Land! " resounded, and every
eye was turned southwards.

CHAPTER IX

LAND?

That cry of " Land " caused an immediate diversion of
our thoughts. I no longer dwelt upon the secret Dirk
Peters had just told me — and perhaps the half-breed for-
got it also, for he rushed to the bow and fixed his eyes im-
movably on the horizon. As for West, whom nothing
could divert from his duty, he repeated his commands, and
Hearne was shut up in the hold.

On the whole this was a just punishment, and none of the
crew protested against it, for Hearne's inattention or awk-
wardness had really endangered the schooner, though for
a short time only.

Five or six of the Falklands sailors did, however, mur-
mur a little. A sign from the mate silenced them, and they
returned at once to their posts.

Needless to say, Captain Len Guy, upon hearing the cry
of the look-out man, had tumbled up from his cabin and
eagerly examined this land at ten or twelve miles distance.

As I have said, I was no longer thinking about the secret
Dirk Peters had confided to me. Besides, so long as the
secret remained between us two — and neither would betray
it — there would be nothing to fear. But if ever an un-
lucky accident were to reveal to Martin Holt that his
brother's name had been changed to Parker, that the unfor-
tunate man had not perished in the shipwreck of the Gram-
pus, but had been sacrificed to save his companions from
perishing of hunger; that Dirk Peters, to whom Martin
Holt himself owed his life, had killed him with his own
hand, what might not happen then? This was the reason
why the half-breed shrank from any expression of thanks
from Martin Holt — why he avoided Martin Holt, the vic-
tim's brother.

The weather was still beautiful, although the sky was
overcast by a mist from southeast to southwest. Owing
to this there was some difficulty in identifying the vague
outlines which stood out like floating vapor in the sky, dis-
appearing and then reappearing between the breaks of the
mist. However, we all agreed to regard this land as being
from twenty-five to thirty fathoms in height, at least at its
highest part.

No! we would not admit that we were victims of a de-

326

LAND? 327

lusion, and yet our uneasy minds feared it might be so !

Captain Len Guy tested the direction of the current re-
peatedly by heavy lead lines, and discovered that it was be-
ginning to deviate from its former course.

" Whether it is a continent," said he, " that lies before us,
or whether it is an island, we have at present no means of
determining. If it be a continent, we must conclude that
the current has an issue towards the southeast."

" And it is quite possible," I replied, " that the solid part
of the Antarctic region may be reduced to a mere polar
mound. In any case, it is well to note any of those obser-
vations which are likely to be accurate."

" That is just what I am doing, Mr. Jeorling, and we
shall bring back a mass of information about this portion
of the southern sea which will prove useful to navigators."

"If ever any venture to come so far south, captain !
We have penetrated so far, thanks to the help of particular
circumstances, the earliness of the summer season, an ab-
normal temperature and a rapid thaw. Such conditions
may only occur once in twenty or fifty years ! "

" Wherefore, Mr. Jeorling, I thank Providence for this,
and hope revives in me to some extent. As the weather
has been constantly fine, what is there to make it impossible
for my brother and my fellow-countrymen to have landed
on this coast, whither the wind and the tide bore them?
What our schooner has done, their boat may have done!
They surely did not start on a voyage which might be pro-
longed to an indefinite time without a proper supply of
provisions! Why should they not have found the same
resources as those afforded to them by the island of Tsalal
during many long years ? They had ammunition and arms
elsewhere. Fish abound in these waters, waterfowl also.
Oh yes ! my heart is full of hope, and I wish I were a few
hours older ! "

Without being quite so sanguine as Len Guy, I was glad
to see he had regained his hopeful mood. Perhaps, if his
investigations were successful, I might be able to have them
continued in Arthur Pym's interest — even into the heart of
this strange land which we were approaching.

The Halbrane was going along slowly on these clear wa-
ters, which swarmed with fish belonging to the same species
as we had already met. The sea-birds were more numer-

328 THE SPHINX OF ICE

cms, and were evidently not frightened; for they kept fly-
ing round the mast, or perching in the yards. Several
whitish ropes about five or six feet long were brought on
board. They were chaplets formed of millions of pearly
shell-fish.

Whales, spouting jets of feathery water from their blow-
holes, appeared at a distance, and I remarked that all of
them took a southerly direction. There was therefore rea-
son to believe that the sea extended far and wide in that
direction.

The schooner covered two or three miles of her course
without any increase of speed. This coast evidently
stretched from northwest to southeast. Nevertheless, the
telescopes revealed no distinctive features — even after three
hours' navigation.

The crew, gathered together on the forecastle, were
looking on without revealing their impressions. West,
after going aloft to the fore-cross-trees, where he had re-
mained ten minutes, had reported nothing precise. Sta-
tioned at the port side, leaning my elbows on the bulwarks,
I closely watched the sky line, broken only towards the east.

At this moment the boatswain rejoined me, and without
further preface said, " Will you allow me to give you my
opinion, Mr. Jeorling?"

" Give it, boatswain," I replied, " at the risk of my not
adopting it if I don't agree with it."

" It is not land which lies before us, Mr. Jeorling! "

" What is it you are saying? "

"Look attentively, putting one finger before your eyes
< — look there — starboard."

I did as Hurliguerly directed.

" Do you see ? " he began again. " May I lose my liking
for my grog if these heights do not change place, not with
regard to the schooner, but with regard to themselves ! "

"And what do you conclude from this? "

" That they are moving icebergs."

Was not the boatswain mistaken? Were we in for a
disappointment? Were there only drifting ice-mountains
in the distance instead of a shore?

Presently, there was no doubt on the subject; for some
time past the crew had no longer believed in the existence
of land in that direction. Ten minutes afterwards, the man

LAND? 329

in the crow's-nest announced that several icebergs were
coming from the northwest, in an oblique direction, into
the course of the Halbrane.

This news produced a great sensation on board. Our
last hope was suddenly extinguished. And what a blow to
Captain Len Guy! We should have to seek this land of
the austral zone under higher latitudes without being sure
of ever coming across it !

And then the cry, " Back ship ! back ship ! " resounded
almost unanimously on board the Halbrane.

Yes, indeed, the recruits from the Falklands were de-
manding that we should turn back, although Hearne was
not there to fan the flame of insubordination, and I must
acknowledge that the greater part of the old tars seemed
to agree with them.

West awaited his chief's orders, not daring to impose si-
lence.

Holt was at the helm, ready to give a turn to the wheel,
whilst his comrades with their hands on the cleats were pre-
paring to ease off the sheets.

Dirk Peters remained immovable, leaning against the
fore-mast, his head down, his body bent, and his mouth set
firm. Not a word passed his lips.

But now he turned towards me, and what a look of
mingled wrath and entreaty he gave me !

I don't know what irresistible motive induced me to in-
terfere personally, and once again to protest ! A final ar-
gument had just crossed my mind — an argument whose
weight could not be disputed. So I began to speak, and I
did so with such conviction that none tried to interrupt me.

The substance of what I said was as follows :

" No ! all hope must not be abandoned. Land cannot be
far off. The icebergs which are formed in the open sea by
the accumulation of ice are not before us. These icebergs
must have broken off from the solid base of a continent or
an island. Now, since the thaw begins at this season of the
year, the drift will last for only a short time. Behind them
we must meet the coast on which they were formed. In
another twenty-four hours, or forty-eight at the most, if
the land does not appear, Captain Len Guy will steer to the
north again ! "

The boatswain came to my help, and in a good-humored

330 THE SPHINX OF ICE

voice exclaimed, " Very well reasoned, and for my part I
accept Mr. Jeorling's opinion. Assuredly, land is near!
If we seek it beyond those icebergs, we shall discover it
without much hard work, or great danger! What is one
degree farther south, when it is a question of putting a hun-
dred additional dollars into one's pocket? And let us not
forget that if they are acceptable when they go in, they are
none the less so when they come out ! "

Upon this, Endicott, the cook, came to the aid of his
friend the boatswain. " Yes, very good things indeed are
dollars ! " cried he, showing two rows of shining white
teeth.

Did the crew intend to yield to Hurliguerly's argument,
Or would they try to resist if the Halbrane went on in the
direction of the icebergs?

Captain Len Guy took up his telescope again, and turned
it upon these moving masses; he observed them with much
attention, and cried out in a loud voice, " Steer south-sou'-
west ! "

West gave orders to execute the maneuvers. The sail-
ors hesitated an instant. Then, recalled to obedience, they
began to brace the yards and slack the sheets, and the
schooner increased her speed.

When the operation was over, I went up to Hurliguerly,
and drawing him aside, I said, " Thank you, boatswain."

" Ah, Mr. Jeorling," he replied, shaking his head, " it
is all very fine for this time, but you must not do it again !
Everyone would turn against me, even Endicott, perhaps."

" I have urged nothing which is not at least probable,"
I answered sharply.

" I don't deny that fact, Mr. Jeorling."

" Yes, Hurliguerly, yes — I believe what I have said, and
I have no doubt but that we shall really see the land be-
yond the icebergs."

" Just possible, Mr. Jeorling, quite possible. But it must
appear before two days, or, on the word of a boatswain,
nothing can prevent us from putting about ! "

During the next twenty-four hours the Halbrane took
a south-southwesterly course. Nevertheless, her direction
must have been frequently changed and her speed decreased
in avoiding the ice. The navigation became very difficult
so soon as the schooner headed towards the line of the

LAND? 331

bergs, which it had to cut obliquely. However, there were
none of the packs which blocked up all access to the ice-
berg on the 67th parallel. The enormous heaps were melt-
ing away with majestic slowness. The ice-blocks ap-
peared "quite new" (to employ a perfectly accurate ex-
pression), and perhaps they had only been formed some
days. However, with a height of one hundred and fifty
feet, their bulk must have been calculated by millions of
tons. West was watching closely in order to avoid col-
lisions, and did not leave the deck even for an instant.

Until now, Captain Len Guy had always been able to
rely upon the indications of the compass. The magnetic
pole, still hundreds of miles off, had no influence on the
compass, its direction being east. The needle remained
steady, and might be trusted.

So, in spite of my conviction, founded, however, on very
serious arguments, there was no sign of land, and I was
wondering whether it would not be better to steer more to
the west, at the risk of removing the Halbrane from that
extreme point where the meridians of the globe cross each
other.

Thus, as the hours went by — and I was only allowed
forty-eight — it was only too plain that lack of courage pre-
vailed, and that everyone was inclined to be insubordinate.
After another day and a half, I could no longer contend
with the general discontent. The schooner must ulti-
mately retrace her course towards the north.

The crew were working in silence, whilst West was giv-
ing sharp short orders for maneuvering through the chan-
nels, sometimes luffing in order to avoid a collision, now
bearing away almost square before the wind. Neverthe-
less, in spite of a close watch, in spite of the skill of the
sailors, in spite of the prompt execution of the maneuvers,
dangerous friction against the hull, which left long traces
of the ridge of the icebergs, occurred. And, in truth, the
bravest could not repress a feeling of terror when think-
ing that the planking might have given way and the sea
have invaded us.

The base of these floating ice-mountains was very steep,
so that it would have been impossible for us to land upon
one. Moreover, we saw no seals — these were usually very
numerous where the ice-fields abounded — nor even a flock

332 THE SPHINX OF ICE

of the screeching penguins which, on other occasions, the
Halbrane sent diving by myriads as she passed through
them; the birds themselves seemed rarer and wilder.
Dread, from which none of us could escape, seemed to
come upon us from these desolate and deserted regions.
How could we still entertain a hope that the survivors of
the Jane had found shelter, and obtained means of existence
in those awful solitudes?

Towards seven o'clock in the evening a rather thick mist
arose; this would tend to make the navigation of the
schooner difficult and dangerous. The day, with its emo-
tions of anxiety and alternatives, had worn me out. So I
returned to my cabin, where I threw myself on my bunk in
my clothes.

Ah! were I only master of the schooner! If I could
have bought it even at the price of all my fortune, if these
men had been my slaves to drive by the lash, the Halbrane
should never have given up this voyage, even if it led her
so far as the point above which flames the Southern
Cross.

My mind was quite upset, and teemed with a thousand
thoughts, a thousand regrets, a thousand desires ! I wanted
to get up, but a heavy hand held me down in my bunk!
And I longed to leave this cabin where I was struggling
against nightmare in my half-sleep, to launch one of the
boats of the Halbrane, to jump into it with Dirk Peters,
who would not hesitate about following me, and so aban-
don both of us to the current running south.

Was this dream suddenly interrupted, or was it changed
by a freak of my brain? I cannot tell, but I felt as though
I had been suddenly awakened. It seemed as though a
change had taken place in the motion of the schooner, which
was sliding along on the surface of the quiet sea, with a
slight list to starboard. And yet, there was neither rolling
nor pitching. Yes, I felt myself carried off as though my
bunk were the car of an air-balloon. I was not mistaken,
and I had fallen from dreamland into reality.

Crash succeeded crash overhead. I could not account
for them. Inside my cabin the partitions deviated from
the vertical in such a way as to make one believe that the
Halbrane had fallen over on her beam ends. Almost im-
mediately, I was thrown out of my bunk and barely escaped

LAND? 333

splitting my skull against the corner of the table. How-
ever, I got up again, and, clinging on to the edge of the
door frame, I propped myself against the door. At this
instant the bulwarks began to crack, and the port side of
the ship was torn open.

Could there have been a collision between the schooner
and one of those gigantic floating masses which West was
unable to avoid in the mist ?

Suddenly loud shouts came from the after-deck, and
then screams of terror, in which the maddened voices of
the crew joined. At length there came a final crash, and
the Halbrane remained motionless.

I had to crawl along the floor to reach the door and gain
the deck. Captain Len Guy having already left his cabin,
dragged himself on his knees, so great was the list to port,
and caught on as best he could.

In the fore part of the ship, between the forecastle and
the fore-mast, many heads appeared.

Dirk Peters, Hardy, Martin Holt and Endicott, the lat-
ter with his black face quite vacant, were clinging to the
starboard shrouds.

A man came creeping up to me, because the slope of the
deck prevented him from holding himself upright; it was
Hurliguerly, working himself along with his hands like a
top-man on a yard.

Stretched out at full length, my feet propped up against
the jamb of the door, I held out my hand to the boatswain,
and helped him, not without difficulty, to hoist himself up
near me.

" What is wrong? " I asked.

" A stranding, Mr. Jeorling."

"We are ashore?"

" A shore presupposes land," replied the boatswain iron-
ically, " and so far as land goes there was never any ex-
cept in that rascal Dirk Peters's imagination."

" But tell me — what has happened."

" We came upon an iceberg in the middle of the fog,
and were unable to keep clear of it."

"An iceberg, boatswain?"

" Yes, an iceberg, which has chosen just now to turn
head over heels. In turning, it struck the Halbrane and
carried it off just as a battledore catches a shuttlecock, and

334 THE SPHINX OF ICE

now here we are, stranded at certainly one hundred feet
above the level of the Antarctic Sea."

Could one have imagined a more terrible conclusion to
the adventurous voyage of the Halbrane? In the middle
of these remote regions our only means of transport had
just been snatched from its natural element, and carried off
by the turn of an iceberg to a height of more than one hun-
dred feet! What a conclusion! To be swallowed up in
a polar tempest, to be destroyed in a fight with savages, to
be crushed in the ice, such are the dangers to which any
ship engaged in the polar seas is exposed! But to think
that the Halbrane had been lifted by a floating mountain
just as that mountain was turning over, was stranded and
almost at its summit — no! such a thing seemed quite im-
possible.

I did not know whether we could succeed in letting down
the schooner from this height with the means we had at
our disposal. But I did know that Captain Len Guy, the
mate and the older members of the crew, when they had
recovered from their first fright, would not give up in de-
spair, no matter how terrible the situation might be; of that
I had no doubt whatsoever! They would all look to the
general safety; as for the measures to be taken, no one yet
knew anything. A foggy veil, a sort of grayish mist still
hung over the iceberg. Nothing could be seen of its enor-
mous mass except the narrow craggy cleft in which the
schooner was wedged, nor even what place it occupied in
the middle of the ice-fleet drifting towards the south-
east

Common prudence demanded that we should quit the
Halbrane, which might slide down at a sharp shake of the
iceberg. Were we even certain that the latter had re-
gained its position on the surface of the sea? Was her
stability secure? Should we not be on the look-out for a
fresh upheaval? And if the schooner were to fall into the
abyss, which of us could extricate himself safe and sound
from such a fall, and then from the final plunge into the
depths of the ocean?

In a few minutes the crew had abandoned the Halbrane.
Each man sought for refuge on the ice-slopes, awaiting
the time when the iceberg should be freed from mist. The
oblique rays from the sun did not succeed in piercing it,

LAND? 335

and the red disk could hardly be perceived through the
opaque mass.

We had now to ascertain whether any of those who
were on the deck at the time of the catastrophe had been
thrown over the bulwarks and precipitated into the sea?
By Captain Len Guy's orders all the sailors then present
joined the group in which I stood with the mate, the boat-
swain, Hardy and Martin Holt.

So far, this catastrophe had cost us five men — these
were the first since our departure from Kerguelen, but
were they to be the last?

There was no doubt that these unfortunate fellows had
perished, because we called them in vain, and in vain we
sought for them, when the fog abated, along the sides of
the iceberg, at every place where they might have been able
to catch on to a projection.

When the disappearance of the five men had been as-
certained, we fell into despair. Then we felt more keenly
than before the dangers which threaten every expedition
to the Antarctic zone.

" What about Hearne? " said a voice.

Martin Holt pronounced the name at a moment when
there was a general silence. Had the sealing-master been
crushed to death in the narrow part of the hold where he
was shut up?

West rushed towards the schooner, hoisted himself on
board by means of a rope hanging over the bows, and
gained the hatch which gives access to that part of the hold.

We waited silent and motionless to learn the fate of
Hearne, although the evil spirit of the crew was but little
worthy of our pity.

And yet, how many of us were then thinking that if we
had heeded his advice, and if the schooner had taken the
northern course, a whole crew would not have been reduced
to take refuge on a drifting ice-mountain! I scarcely
dared to calculate my own share of the vast responsibility,
I who had so vehemently insisted on the prolongation of
the voyage.

At length the mate reappeared on deck and Hearne fol-
lowed him! By a miracle, neither the bulkheads, nor the
ribs, nor the planking had yielded at the place where the
sealing-master was confined.

336 THE SPHINX OF ICE

Hearne rejoined his comrades without opening his lips,
and we had no further trouble about him.

Towards six o'clock in the morning the fog cleared off,
owing to a marked fall in the temperature. We were now
enabled to estimate the size of the solid mass on which we
clustered like flies on a sugar-loaf, and the schooner, seen
from below, looked no bigger than the yawl of a trading
vessel. This iceberg of between three and four hundred
fathoms in circumference measured from 130 to 140 feet
high. According to all calculations, therefore, its depth
would be four or five times greater, and it would conse-
quently weigh millions of tons.

This is what had happened. The iceberg, having been
melted away at its base by contact with warmer waters, had
risen little by little; its center of gravity had become dis-
placed, and its equilibrium could only be re-established by
a sudden capsize, which had lifted up the part that had been
underneath above the sea-level. The Halbrane, caught in
this movement, was hoisted as by an enormous lever.
Numbers of icebergs capsize thus on the polar seas, and
form one of the greatest dangers to which approaching
vessels are exposed.

Our schooner was caught in a hollow on the west side
of the iceberg. She listed to starboard with her stern
raised and her bow lowered. We could not help thinking
that the slightest shake would cause her to slide along the
slope of the iceberg into the sea. The collision had been
so violent as to stave in some of the planks of her hull.
After the first collision, the galley situated before the fore-
mast had broken its fastenings. The door between Cap-
tain Len Guy's and the mate's cabins was torn away from
the hinges. The topmast and the top-gallant-mast had
come down after the back-stays parted, and fresh fractures
could plainly be seen as high as the cap of the masthead.

Fragments of all kinds, yards, spars, a part of the sails,
breakers, cases, hen-coops, were probably floating at the
foot of the mass and drifting with it.

The most alarming part of our situation was the fact
that of the two boats belonging to the Halbrane, one had
been stove in when we grounded, and the other, the larger
of the two, was still hanging on by its tackles to the star-
board davits. Before anything else was done this boat

LAND? 337

had to be put in a safe place, because it might prove our
only means of escape.

After an examination which lasted two hours, it was dis-
covered that the damage was of little importance, and could
be repaired in a short time. Two or three planks only
were wrenched away by the collision. In the inside the
skin was intact, the ribs not having given way. Our ves-
sel, constructed for polar seas, had resisted where many
others less solidly built would have been dashed to pieces.
The rudder had indeed been unshipped, but that could
easily be set right.

Having finished our inspection inside and outside, we
agreed that the damage was less considerable than we
feared, and on that subject we became reassured. Reas-
sured! Yes, if we could only succeed in getting the
schooner afloat again.

CHAPTER X

" UNMERCIFUL DISASTER "

After breakfast, it was decided that the men should be-
gin to dig a sloping bed which would allow the Halbrane
to slide to -the foot of the iceberg. Would that Heaven
might grant success to the operation, for who could con-
template without terror having to brave the severity of
the austral winter, and to pass six months under such con-
ditions as ours on a vast iceberg, dragged none could tell
whither? Once the winter had set in, none of us could
have escaped from that most terrible of fates — dying of
cold.

At this moment, Dirk Peters, who was observing the
horizon from south to east at about one hundred paces off,
cried out in a rough voice : " Lying to ! "

Lying to? What could the half-breed mean by that,
except that the floating mass had suddenly ceased to drift?
As for the cause of this stoppage, it was neither the mo-
ment to investigate it, nor to ask ourselves what the conse-
quences were likely to be.

" It is true, however," cried the boatswain. " The ice-
berg is not stirring, and perhaps has not stirred since it
capsized ! "

" How ? " said I, " it no longer changes its place ? "

V. XIV Verne

338 THE SPHINX OF ICE

" No," replied the mate, " and the proof is that the
others, drifting on, are leaving it behind!"

The simplest explanation was that the new base had en-
countered ground at the bottom of the sea to which it now
adhered, and would continue to adhere, unless the sub-
merged part rose in the water so as to cause a second cap-
size.

This complicated matters seriously, because the dangers
of positive immobility were such that the chances of drift-
ing were preferable. At least, in the latter case there was
some hope of coming across a continent or an island, or
even (if the currents did not change) of crossing the
boundaries of the austral region.

Here we were, then, after three months of this terrible
voyage! Was there now any question of trying to save
William Guy and his comrades on the Jane, and Arthur
Pym? Was it not for our own safety that any means at
our disposal should be employed? And could it be won-
dered at were the sailors of the Halbrane to rebel, were
they to listen to Hearne's suggestions, and make their
officers, or myself especially, responsible for the disasters
of this expedition?

Moreover, what was likely to take place, since, notwith-
standing their losses, the followers of the sealing-master
were still a majority of the ship's company?

This question I could clearly see was occupying the
thoughts of Captain Len Guy and West. Again, although
the recruits from the Falklands formed only a total of
fourteen men, as against the twelve of the old crew, was it
not to be feared that some of the latter would take Hearne's
side? What if Hearne's people, urged by despair, were
already thinking of seizing the only boat we now possessed,
setting off towards the north, and leaving us on this ice-
berg? It was, then, of great importance that our boat
should be put in safety and closely watched.

A marked change had taken place in Captain Len Guy
since the recent occurrences. He seemed to be transformed
upon finding himself face to face with the dangers which
menaced us. Up to that time he had been solely occupied
in searching for his fellow-countrymen; he had handed
over the command of the schooner to West, and he could
not have given it to anyone more zealous and more capable.

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 339

But from this date he resumed his position as master of
the ship, and used it with the energy required by the cir-
cumstances; in a word, he again became sole master on
board, after God.

At his command the crew were drawn up around him on
a flat spot a little to the left of the Halbrane. In that place
the following were assembled : — on the seniors' side : Mar-
tin Holt and Hardy, Rogers, Francis, Gratian, Bury, Stern,
the cook (Endicott), and I may add Dirk Peters; on the
side of the new-comers, Hearne and the thirteen other
Falkland sailors. The latter composed a distinct group;
the sealing-master was their spokesman and exercised a
baneful influence over them.

Captain Len Guy cast a stern glance upon the men and
said in a sharp tone, " Sailors of the Halbrane, I must first
speak to you of our lost companions. Five of us have just
perished in this catastrophe."

" We are waiting to perish in our turn, in these seas,
where we have been dragged in spite of "

" Be silent, Hearne," cried West, pale with anger, " or
if not "

" Hearne has said what he had to say," Captain Len
Guy continued, coldly. " Now it is said, and I advise him
not to interrupt me a second time ! "

The sealing-master might possibly have ventured on an
answer, for he felt that he was backed by the majority of
the crew ; but Martin Holt held him back, and he was silent.

Captain Len Guy then took off his hat and pronounced
the following words with an emotion that affected us to
the bottom of our hearts. " We must pray for those who
have died in this dangerous voyage, which was undertaken
in the name of humanity. May God be pleased to take
into consideration the fact that they devoted their lives
to their fellow-creatures, and may He not be insensible to
our prayers! Kneel down, sailors of the Halbrane!"

They all knelt down on the icy surface, and the murmurs
of prayer ascended towards heaven.

We waited for Captain Len Guy to rise before we did
so. " Now," he resumed, " after those who are dead come
those who have survived. To them I say that they must
obey me, whatever my orders may be, and even in our
present situation I shall not tolerate any hesitation or oppo-

340 THE SPHINX OF ICE

sition. The responsibility for the general safety is mine,
and I will not yield any of it to anyone. I am master
here, as on board "

" On board — when there is no longer a ship," muttered
the sealing-master.

" You are mistaken, Hearne, the vessel is there, and we
will put it back into the sea. Besides, if we had only a
boat, I am captain of it. Let him beware who forgets
this ! "

That day Captain Len Guy, having taken the height of
the sun by the sextant and fixed the hour by the chronome-
ter (both of these instruments had escaped destruction in
the collision), obtained the following position of his ship:

South latitude: 88° 55'.

West longitude: 390 12'.

The Halbrane was only i° 5' — about 65 miles — from
the south pole.

" All hands to work," was the captain's order that after-
noon, and everyone obeyed it with a will. There was not
a moment to lose, as the question of time was more im-
portant than any other. So far as provisions were con*
cerned, there was enough in the schooner for eighteen
months on full rations, so we were not threatened with
hunger, nor with thirst either, notwithstanding that owing
to the water-casks having been burst in the collision, their
contents had escaped through their staves. Luckily, the
barrels of gin, whisky, beer, and wine, being placed in the
least exposed part of the hold, were nearly all intact. Un-
der this head we had experienced no loss, and the iceberg
would supply us with good drinking-water. It is a well-
known fact that ice, whether formed from fresh or salt
water, contains no salt, owing to the chloride of sodium
being eliminated in the change from the liquid to the solid
state. The origin of the ice, therefore, is a matter of no
importance. However, those blocks which are easily dis-
tinguished by their greenish color and their perfect trans-
parency are preferable. They are solidified rain, and there-
fore much more suitable for drinking-water.

Without doubt, our captain would have recognized any
blocks of this description, but none were to be found on the
glacier, owing to its being that part of the berg which was
originally submerged, and came to the top after the fall.

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 341

The captain and West decided first to lighten the ves-
sel, by conveying everything on board to land. The masts
were to be cleared of rigging, taken out, and placed on the
plateau. It was necessary to lighten the vessel as much as
possible, even to clear out the ballast, owing to the difficult
and dangerous operation of launching. It would be better
to put off our departure for some days if this operation
could be performed under more favorable circumstances.
The loading might be afterwards accomplished without
much difficulty.

Besides this, another reason by no means less serious
presented itself to us. It would have been an act of un-
pardonable rashness to leave the provisions in the store-
room of the Halbrane, her situation on the side of the ice-
berg being very precarious. One shake would suffice to
detach the ship, and with her would have disappeared the
supplies on which our lives depended.

On this account, we passed the day in removing casks
of half-salted meat, dried vegetables, flour, biscuits, tea,
coffee, barrels of gin, whisky, wine and beer from the hold
and store-room and placing them in safety in the ham-
mocks near the Halbrane.

We also had to insure our landing against any possible
accident, and, I must add, against any plot on the part of
Hearne and others to seize the boat in order to return to
the ice-barrier.

We placed the long boat in a cavity which would be easy
to watch, about thirty feet to the left of the schooner, along
with its oars, rudder, compass, anchor, masts and sail.

By day there was nothing to fear, and at night, or rather
during the hours of sleep, the boatswain and one of the
superiors would keep guard near the cavity, and we might
rest assured that no evil could befall.

The 19th, 20th, and 21st of January were passed in work-
ing extra hard in the unshipping of the cargo and the dis-
mantling of the Halbrane. We slung the lower masts by
means of yards forming props. Later on, West would see
to replacing the main and mizzen masts; in any case, we
could do without them until we had reached the Falklands
or some other winter port.

Needless to say, we had set up a camp on the plateau of
which I have spoken, not far from the Halbrane. Suffi-

342 THE SPHINX OF ICE

cient shelter against the inclemency of the weather, not
un frequent at this time of the year, was to be found under
tents, constructed of sails placed on spars and fastened
down by pegs. The glass remained set fair ; the wind was
nor'-east, the temperature having risen to 46 degrees (2°
78' C).

Endicott's kitchen was fitted up at the end of the plain,
near a steep projection by which we could climb to the
very top of the berg.

It is only fair to state that during these three days of
hard work no fault was to be found with Hearne. The
sealing-master knew he was being closely watched, and he
was well aware that Captain Len Guy would not spare him
if he tried to get up insubordination amongst his comrades.
It was a pity that his bad instincts had induced him to play
such a part, for his strength, skill, and cleverness made him
a very valuable man, and he had never proved more useful
than under these circumstances.

Was he changed for the better? Did he understand that
general good feeling was necessary for the safety of all?
I know not, but I had no confidence in him, neither had
Hurliguerly !

I need not dwell on the ardor with which the half-breed
did the rough work, always first to begin and the last to
leave off, doing as much as four men, and scarcely sleep-
ing, only resting during meals, which he took apart from
the others. He had hardly spoken to me at all since the
schooner had met with this terrible accident.

What indeed could he say to me? Did I not know as
well as he that it would be necessary to renounce every
hope of pursuing our intended voyage?

Now and again I noticed Martin Holt and the half-breed
near each other while some difficult piece of work was in
progress. Our sailing-master did not miss a chance of
getting near Dirk Peters, who always tried his best to es-
cape from him, for reasons well known to me. And when-
ever I thought of the secret of the fate of the so-called
Parker, Martin Holt's brother, which had been entrusted
to me, that dreadful scene of the Grampus filled me with
horror. I was certain that if this secret were made known
the half-breed would become an object of terror. He
would no longer be looked upon as the rescuer of the sail-

'UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 343

ing-master; and the latter, learning that his brother-

Luckily, Dirk Peters and myself were the only two ac-
quainted with the fact.

Often when he had finished his work, Hurliguerly would
come and join me; we would chat, and we would compare
our recollections of travel.

One day as we were seated on the summit of the iceberg,
gazing fixedly on the deceptive horizon, he exclaimed :

" Who could ever have imagined, Mr. Jeorling, when the
Halbrane left Kerguelen, that six and a half months after-
wards she would be stuck on the side of an enormous ice-
mountain?"

" A fact much more to be regretted," I replied, " because
only for that accident we should have attained our object,
and we should have begun our return journey."

" I don't mean to contradict," replied the boatswain, " but
you say we should have attained our object?"

"What — do you also hesitate, boatswain — you whom I
believed to be so confident ! "

"Confidence, Mr. Jeorling, wears out like the ends of
one's trousers. What would you have me do? Oh, if I
were the only one it would not be half so bad as it is ! "

" The whole crew does not despair, surely? "

" Yes — and no," replied Hurliguerly, " for I know some
who are not at all satisfied ! "

" Has Hearne begun his mischief again ? Is he exciting
his companions ? "

Not openly at least, Mr. Jeorling, and since I have kept
him under my eye I have neither seen nor heard anything.
Besides, he knows what awaits him if he budges. I be-
lieve I am not mistaken, the sly dog has changed his tactics.
But what does not astonish me in him, astonishes me in
Martin Holt."

" What do you mean, boatswain ? "

" That they seem to be on good terms. See how Hearne
seeks out Martin Holt, talks to him frequently, and Holt
does not treat his overtures unfavorably."

" Martin Holt is not one of those who would listen to
Hearne's advice, or follow it if he tried to provoke re-
bellion amongst the crew."

" No doubt, Mr. Jeorling. However, I don't fancy see-
ing them so much together, Hearne is a dangerous and

344 THE SPHINX OF ICE

unscrupulous individual, and most likely Martin Holt does
not distrust him sufficiently."

" He is wrong, boatswain."

"And — wait a moment — do you know what they were
talking about the other day when I overheard a few scraps
of their conversation? "

" I could not possibly guess until you tell me."

"Well, while they were conversing on the bridge of the
Halbrane, I heard them talking about Dirk Peters, and
Hearne was saying : ' You must not owe a grudge to the
half-breed, Master Holt, because he refused to respond to
your advances and accept your thanks! If he be only a
sort of brute, he possesses plenty of courage, and has
showed it in getting you out of a bad corner at the risk of
his life. And besides, do not forget that he formed part
of the crew of the Grampus, and your brother Ned, if I
dion't mistake ' "

"He said that, boatswain; he spoke of the Grampus?"
I exclaimed.

" Yes — of the Grampus! "

"And of Ned Holt?"

"Precisely, Mr. Jeorling!"

"And what answer did Martin Holt make? "

" He replied : ' I don't even know under what circum-
stances my unfortunate brother perished. Was it during
a revolt on board? Brave man that he was, he would not
betray his captain, and perhaps he was massacred."

"Did Hearne dwell on this, boatswain? "

" Yes, but he added : ' It is very sad for you, Master
Holt! The captain of the Grampus, according to what I
have been told, was abandoned, being placed in a small
boat with one or two of his men — and who knows if your
brother was not along with him ? ' "

"And what next?"

" Then, Mr. Jeorling, he added : ' Did it never occur to
you to ask Dirk Peters to enlighten you on the subject?'
* Yes, once,' replied Martin Holt, ' I questioned the half-
breed about it, and never did I see a man so overcome. He
replied in so low a voice that I could scarcely understand

him, " I know not — I know not " and he ran away with

his face buried in his hands.' "

"Was that all you heard of the conversation? "

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 345

" That was all, Mr. Jeorling, and I thought it so strange
that I wished to inform you of it.'

"And what conclusion did you draw from it? "

" Nothing, except that I look upon the sealing-master as
a scoundrel of the deepest dye, perfectly capable of work-
ing in secret for some evil purpose with which he would
like to associate Martin Holt ! "

What did Hearne's new attitude mean? Why did he
strive to gain Martin Holt, one of the best of the crew, as
an ally? Why did he recall the scenes of the Grampus?
Did Hearne know more of this matter of Dirk Peters and
Ned Holt than the others; this secret of which the half-
breed and I believed ourselves to be the sole possessors?

The doubt caused me serious uneasiness. However, I
took good care not to say anything of it to Dirk Peters.
If he had for a moment suspected that Hearne spoke of
what happened on board the Grampus, if he had heard that
the rascal (as Hurliguerly called him, and not without rea-
son) constantly talked to Martin Holt about his brother, I
really do not know what would have happened.

In short, whatever the intentions of Hearne might be, it
was dreadful to think that our sailing-master, on whose
fidelity Captain Len Guy ought to be able to count, was in
conspiracy with him. The sealing-master must have a
strong motive for acting in this way. What it was I could
not imagine. Although the crew seemed to have aban-
doned every thought of mutiny, a strict watch was kept,
especially on Hearne.

Besides, the situation must soon change, at least so far
as the schooner was concerned. Two days afterwards the
work was finished. The caulking operations were com-
pleted, and also the slide for lowering the vessel to the
base of our floating mountain.

Just now the upper portion of the ice had been slightly
softened, so that this last work did not entail much labor
for pickax or spade. The course ran obliquely round the
west side of the berg, so that the incline should not be too
great at any point. With cables properly fixed, the launch,
it seemed, might be effected without any mishap. I rather
feared lest the melting of the ice should make the gliding
less smooth at the lower part of the berg.

Needless to say, the cargo, masting, anchors, chains, etc.,

346 THE SPHINX OF ICE

had not been put on board. The hull was quite heavy
enough, and not easily moved, so it was necessary to lighten
it as much as possible. When the schooner was again in
its element, the loading could be effected in a few days.

_ On the afternoon of the 28th, the finishing touches were
givem It was necessary to put supports for the sides of
the slide in some places where the ice had melted quickly.
Then everyone was allowed to rest from 4 o'clock p. m.
The captain had double rations served out to all hands, and
well they merited this extra supply of spirits; they had in-
deed worked hard during the week. I repeat that every
sign of mutiny had disappeared. The crew thought of
nothing except this great operation of the launching. The
Halbrane in the sea would mean departure, it would also
mean return! For Dirk Peters and me it would be the
definite abandonment of Arthur Pym.

That night the temperature was the highest we had so
far experienced. The thermometer registered 530 (n°
67' C). So, although the sun was nearing the horizon, the
ice was melting, and thousands of small streams flowed in
every direction. The early birds awoke at four o'clock,
and I was one of their number. I had scarcely slept, and
I fancy that Dirk Peters did not sleep much, haunted as he
was by the sad thought of having to turn back !

The launch was to take place at ten o'clock. Taking
every possible difficulty into account, and allowing for the
minutest precautions, the captain hoped that it would be
completed before the close of the day. Everyone believed
that by evening the schooner would be at the foot of the
berg.

Of course we had all to lend a hand to this difficult task.
To each man a special duty was assigned; some were em-
ployed to facilitate the sliding with wooden rollers, if neces-
sary; others to moderate the speed of the hull, in case it
became too great, by means of hawsers and cables.

We breakfasted at nine o'clock in the tents. Our sail-
ors were perfectly confident, and could not refrain from
drinking " success to the event " ; and although this was a
little premature, we added our hurrahs to theirs. Success
seemed very nearly assured, as the captain and the mate
had worked out the matter so carefully and skillfully At
last we were about to leave our encampment and take up

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 347

our stations (some of the sailors were there already),
when cries of amazement and fear were raised. What a
frightful scene, and, short as it may have been, what an
impression of terror it left on our minds!

One of the enormous blocks which formed the bank of
the mud-bed where the Halbrane lay, having become loose
owing to the melting of its base, had slipped and was bound-
ing over the others down the incline.

In another moment, the schooner, being no longer re-
tained in position, was swinging on this declivity.

On board, on deck, in front, there were two sailors,
Rogers and Gratian. In vain did the unfortunate men try
to jump over the bulwarks, they had not time, and they
were dragged away in this dreadful fall.

Yes! I saw it! I saw the schooner topple over, slide
down first on its left side, crush one of the men who de-
layed too long about jumping to one side, then bound from
block to block, and finally fling itself into space.

In another moment the Halbrane, staved in, broken up,
with gaping planks and shattered ribs, had sunk, causing
a tremendous jet of water to spout up at the foot of the
iceberg.

Horrified! yes, indeed, we were horrified when the
schooner, carried off as though by an avalanche, had dis-
appeared in the abyss ! Not a particle of our Halbrane re-
mained, not even a wreck !

A minute ago she was one hundred feet in the air, now
she was five hundred in the depths of the sea! Yes, we
were so stupefied that we were unable to think of the dan-
gers to come — our amazement was that of people who
" cannot believe their eyes."

Prostration succeeded as a natural consequence. There
was not a word spoken. We stood motionless, with our
feet rooted to the icy soil. No words could express the
horror of our situation.

As for West, when the schooner had disappeared in the
abyss, I saw big tears fall from his eyes. The Halbrane
that he loved so much was now an unknown quantity!
Yes, our stout-hearted mate wept.

Three of our men had perished, and in what frightful
fashion ! I had seen Rogers and Gratian, two of our most
faithful sailors, stretch out their hands in despair as they

348 THE SPHINX OF ICE

were knocked about by the rebounding of the schooner,
and finally sink with her ! The other man from the Falk-
lands, an American, was crushed in its rush; his shapeless
form lay in a pool of blood. Three new victims within the
last ten days had to be inscribed on the register of those
who died during this fatal voyage ! Ah ! fortune had fa-
vored us up to the hour when the Halbrane was snatched
from her own element, but her hand was now against us.
And was not this last the worst blow — must it not prove the
stroke of death?

The silence was broken by a tumult of despairing voices,
whose despair was justified indeed by this irreparable mis-
fortune! And I am sure that more than one thought it
would have been better to have been on the Halbrane as
she rebounded off the side of the iceberg! Everything
would have been over then, as all was over with Rogers
and Gratian! This foolish expedition would thus have
come to a conclusion worthy of such rashness and impru-
dence !

At last, the instinct of self-preservation triumphed, and
except Hearne, who stood some distance off and affected
silence, all the men shouted : " To the boat ! to the boat ! "

These unfortunate fellows were out of their mind. Ter-
ror had led them astray. They rushed towards the crag
where our one boat (which could not hold them all) had
been sheltered during the unloading of the schooner.

Captain Len Guy and Jem West rushed after them. I
joined them immediately, followed by the boatswain. We
were armed, and resolved to make use of our arms. We
had to prevent these furious men from seizing the boat,
which did not belong to a few, but to all!

" Hallo, sailors! " cried the captain.

" Hallo ! " repeated West, " stop there, or we fire on the
first who goes a step farther ! "

Both threatened the men with their pistols. The boat-
swain pointed his gun at them. I held my rifle, ready to
fire.

It was in vain ! The frenzied men heard nothing, would
not hear anything, and one of them fell, struck by the mate's
bullet, just as he was crossing the last block. He was un-
able to catch on to the bank with his hands, and slipping
on the frozen slope, he disappeared in the abyss.

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 349

Was this the beginning of a massacre? Would others
let themselves be killed at this place? Would the old
hands side with the new-comers?

At that moment I remarked that Hardy, Martin Holt,
Francis Bury, and Stern hesitated about coming over to
our side, while Hearne, still standing motionless at some
distance, gave no encouragement to the rebels.

However, we could not allow them to become masters
of the boat to bring it down, to embark ten or twelve
men, and to abandon us to our certain fate on this ice-
berg. They had almost reached the boat, heedless of
danger and deaf to threats, when a second report was heard,
and one of the sailors fell, by a bullet from the boatswain's
gun.

One American and one Fuegian less to be numbered
amongst the sealing-master's partisans!

Then, in front of the boat, a man appeared. It was
Dirk Peters, who had climbed the opposite slope.

The half-breed put one of his enormous hands on the
stern and with the other made a sign to the furious men to
clear off. Dirk Peters being there, we no longer needed
our arms, as he alone would suffice to protect the boat from
danger.

And indeed, as five or six of the sailors were advancing,
he went up to them, caught hold of the nearest by the belt,
lifted him up, and sent him flying ten paces off. The
wretched man not being able to catch hold of anything,
would have rebounded into the sea had not Hearne seized
him. _ Owing to the half-breed's intervention the revolt
was instantly quelled. Besides, we were coming up to the
boat, and with us those of our men whose hesitation had
not lasted long.

No matter. The others were still thirteen to our ten.

Captain Len Guy made his appearance; anger shone in
his eyes, and with him was West, quite unmoved. Words
failed the captain for some moments, but his looks said
what his tongue could not utter. At length, in a terrible
voice, he said :

" I ought to treat you as evil-doers ; however, I will only
consider you as madmen. The boat belongs to everybody.
It is now our only means of salvation, and you wanted to
steal it — to steal it like cowards! Listen attentively to

350 THE SPHINX OF ICE

what I say for the last time! This boat, belonging to the
Halbrane, is now the Halbrane herself ! I am the captain
of it, and let him who disobeys me, beware ! "

With these last words Captain Len Guy looked at
Hearne, for whom this warning was expressly meant.
The sealing-master had not appeared in the last scene, not
openly at least, but nobody doubted that he had urged his
comrades to make off with the boat, and that he had every
intention of doing the same again.

" Now to the camp," said the captain, " and you, Dirk
Peters, remain here ! "

The half-breed's only reply was to nod his big head and
betake himself to his post.

The crew returned to the camp without the least hesita-
tion. Some lay down in their sleeping-places, others wan-
dered about. Hearne neither tried to join them nor to go
near Martin Holt.

Now that the sailors were reduced to idleness, there was
nothing to do except to ponder on our critical situation, and
invent some means of getting out of it.

The captain, the mate, and the boatswain formed a coun-
cil, and I took part in their deliberations.

Captain Len Guy began by saying :

" We have protected our boat, and we shall continue to
protect it."

" Until death," declared West.

"Who knows," said I, "whether we shall not soon be
forced to embark? "

" In that case," replied the captain, " as all cannot fit
into it, it will be necessary to make a selection. Lots shall
determine which of us are to go, and I shall not ask to be
treated differently from the others."

" We have not come to that, luckily," replied the boat-
swain. " The iceberg is solid, and there is no fear of its
melting before winter."

" No," assented West, " that is not to be feared. What
it behooves us to do is, while watching the boat, to keep
an eye on the provisions."

" We are lucky," added Hurliguerly, " to have put our
cargo in safety. Poor, dear Halbrane. She will remain
in these seas, like the Jane, her elder sister! "

" You are right," replied the captain, " and we have

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 351

provisions for one year, without counting what we may get
by fishing."

" And it is so much the more necessary, captain, to keep
a close watch, because I have seen some hovering about
the spirit casks."

" I will see to that," replied West.

" But," I then asked, " had we not better prepare our-
selves for the fact that we may be compelled to winter on
this iceberg?"

" May Heaven avert such a terrible probability," replied
the captain.

" After all, if it were necessary, we could get through it,
Mr. Jeorling," said the boatswain. " We could hollow
out sheltering-places in the ice, so as to be able to bear the
extreme cold of the pole, and so long as we had sufficient
to appease our hunger "

At this moment the horrid recollection of the Grampus
came to my mind — the scenes in which Dirk Peters killed
Ned Holt, the brother of our sailing-master. Should we
ever be in such extremity?

" If our boat could hold us all," said the captain, " with
the provisions necessary for a voyage that might last three
or four weeks, I would not hestitate to put to sea now and
return towards the north."

But I made them observe that we should be obliged to
direct our course contrary to wind and current; our
schooner herself could hardly have succeeded in doing this.
Whilst to continue towards the south

"Towards the south? " repeated the captain, who looked
at me as though he sought to read my thoughts.

" Why not? " I answered. " If the iceberg had not been
stopped in its passage, perhaps it would have drifted to
some land in that direction, and might not our boat ac-
complish what it would have done? "

The captain, shaking his head, answered nothing. West
also was silent.

" Eh ! our iceberg will end by raising its anchor," replied
Hurliguerly. " It does not hold to the bottom, like the
Falklands or the Kerguelens! So the safest course is to
wait, as the boat cannot carry twenty-three, the number
of our party."

I dwelt upon the fact that it was not necessary for all

352 THE SPHINX OF ICE

twenty-three to embark. It would be sufficient, I said, for
five or six of us to reconnoiter farther south for twelve or
fifteen miles.

"South?" repeated Captain Len Guy.

" Undoubtedly, captain," I added. " You probably
know what the geographers frankly admit, that the Ant-
arctic regions are formed by a capped continent."

" Geographers know nothing, and can know nothing
about it," replied West, coldly.

" It is a pity," said I, " that as we are so near, we should
not attempt to solve this question of a polar continent."

I thought it better not to insist just at present.

Moreover there would be danger in sending out our
only boat on a voyage of discovery, as the current might
carry it too far, or it might not find us again in the same
place. And, indeed, if the iceberg happened to get loose
at the bottom, and to resume its interrupted drift, what
would become of the men in the boat?

The drawback was that the boat was too small to carry
us all, with the necessary provisions. Now, of the seniors,
there remained ten men, counting Dirk Peters; of the new
men there were thirteen; twenty-three in all. The largest
number our boat could hold was from eleven to twelve
persons. Then eleven of us, indicated by lot, would have
to remain on this island of ice. And what would become
of them?

With regard to this Hurliguerly made a sound observa-
tion. " After all," he said, " I don't know that those who
would embark would be better off than those who re-
mained! I am so doubtful of the result, that I would
willingly give up my place to anyone who wanted it."

Perhaps the boatswain was right. But in my own mind,
when I asked that the boat might be utilized, it was only
for the purpose of reconnoitering the iceberg.

We finally decided to arrange everything with a view to
wintering out, even were our ice-mountain again to
drift.

" We may be sure that will be agreed to by our men,"
declared Hurliguerly.

" What is necessary must be done," replied the mate,
" and to-day we must set to work."

I could not tell how long I had been sleeping that night

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER*' 353

nor what time it was, when I found myself rolling on the
ground after a violent shock.

What could be happening? Was it another capsize of
the iceberg?

We were all up in a second, then outside the tents in the
full light of a night in the polar regions.

A second floating mass of enormous size had just struck
our iceberg, which had "hoisted the anchor" (as the
sailors say) and was drifting towards the south.

An unhoped-for change in the situation had taken place.
What were to be the consequences of our being no longer
cast away at that place? The current was now carrying
us in the direction of the pole? The first feeling of joy
inspired by this conviction was, however, succeeded by all
the terrors of the unknown ! and what an unknown !

Dirk Peters only was entirely rejoiced that we had re-
sumed the route which, he believed, would lead us to the
discovery of traces of his "poor Pym" — far other ideas
occupied the minds of his companions.

Captain Len Guy no longer entertained any hope of res-
cuing his countrymen, and having reached the condition of
despair, he was bound by his duty to take his crew back
to the north, so as to clear the Antarctic circle while the
season rendered it possible to do so. And we were being
carried away towards the south !

Naturally enough, we were all deeply impressed by the
fearfulness of our position, which may be summed up in a
few words. We were no longer cast away, with a possible
ship, but the tenants of a floating iceberg, with no hope but
that our monster tenement might encounter one of the
whaling ships whose business in the deep waters lies be-
tween the Orkneys, New Georgia, and the Sandwich Is-
lands. A quantity of things had been thrown into the
ice by the collision which had set our iceberg afloat, but
these were chiefly articles belonging to the Halbrane.
Owing to the precaution that had been taken on the pre-
vious day, when the cargo was stowed away in the clefts,
it had been only slightly damaged. What would have be-
come of us, had all our reserves been swallowed up in that
grim encounter?

Now, the two icebergs formed but one, which was travel-
ing south at the rate of two miles an hour. At this rate,

V. XIV Verne '

354 THE SPHINX OF ICE

thirty hours would suffice to bring us to the point of the
axis at which the terrestrial meridians unite. Did the
current which was carrying us along pass on to the pole
itself, or was there any land which might arrest our prog-
ress? This was another question, and I discussed it with
the boatswain.

"Nobody knows, Mr. Jeorling," was Hurliguerly's re-
ply. "If the current goes to the pole, we shall go^ there;
and if it doesn't, we shan't. An iceberg isn't a ship, and
as it has neither sails nor helm, it goes as the drift takes
it."

" That's true, boatswain. fAnd therefore I had the idea
that if two or three of us were to embark in the boat "

"Ah! you still hold to your notion of the boat — — "

"Certainly, for, if there is land somewhere, is it not
possible that the people of the Jane "

"Have come upon it, Mr. Jeorling — at four hundred
miles from Tsalal Island."

"Who knows, boatswain?"

" That may be, but allow me to say that your argument
will be reasonable when the land comes in sight, if it ever
does so. Our captain will see what ought to be done, and
he will remember that time presses. We cannot delay in
these waters, and, after all, the one thing of real import-
ance to us is to get out of the polar circle before the winter
makes it impassable."

There was good sense in Hurliguerly's words; I could
not deny the fact.

During that day the greater part of the cargo was placed
in the interior of a vast cave-like fissure in the side of the
iceberg, where, even in case of a second collision, casks
and barrels would be in safety. Our men then assisted
Endicott to set up his cooking-stove between two blocks,
so that it was firmly fixed, and they heaped up a great mass
of coals close to it.

No murmurs, no recrimination disturbed these labors.
It was evident that silence was deliberately maintained.
The crew obeyed the captain and West because they gave
no orders but such as were of urgent necessity. But, after-
wards, would these men allow the authority of their leaders
to be uncontested? How long would the recruits from
the Falklands, who were already exasperated by the dis-

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 355

asters of our enterprise, resist their desire to seize upon;
the boat and escape ?

I did not think they would make the attempt, however,
so long as our iceberg should continue to drift, for the boat
could not outstrip its progress; but, if it were to run
aground once more, to strike upon the coast of an island or
a continent, what would not these unfortunate creatures do
to escape the horrors of wintering under such conditions?
In the afternoon, during the hour of rest allowed to the
crew, I had a second conversation with Dirk Peters. I
had taken my customary seat at the top of the iceberg,
and had occupied it for half an hour, being, as may be
supposed, deep in thought, when I saw the half-breed com-
ing quickly up the slope. We had exchanged hardly a
dozen words since the iceberg had begun to move again.
When Dirk Peters came up to me, he did not address me
at first, and was so intent on his thoughts that I was not
quite sure he saw me. At length, he leaned back against
an ice-block, and spoke:

" Mr. Jeorling," he said, " you remember, in your cabin
in the Halbrane, I told you the— the affair of the Gram-
pus? "

I remembered well.

" I told you that Parker's name was not Parker, that it
was Holt, and that he was Ned Holt's brother? "

" I know, Dirk Peters," I replied, " but why do you refer
to that sad story again? "

"Why, Mr. Jeorling? Have not — have you never said
anything about it to anybody? "

" Not to anybody," I protested. " How could you sup-
pose I should be so ill-advised, so imprudent, as to divulge
your secret, a secret which ought never to pass our lips — »
a dead secret? "

"Dead, yes, dead! And yet, understand me, it seems
to me that, among the crew, something is known."

I instantly recalled to mind what the boatswain had told
me concerning a certain conversation in which he had over-
heard Hearne prompting Martin Holt to ask the half-breed
what were the circumstances of his brother's death on board
the Grampus. Had a portion of the secret got out, or was
this apprehension on the part of Dirk Peters purely imag-
inary ?

356 THE SPHINX OF ICE

" Explain yourself," I said.

" Understand me, Mr. Jeorling, I am a bad hand at ex-
plaining. Yes, yesterday — I have thought of nothing else
since — Martin Holt took me aside, far from the others,
and told me that he wished to speak to me "

" Of the Grampus? "

"Of the Grampus — yes, and of his brother, Ned Holt.
For the first time he uttered that name before me — and
yet we have sailed together for nearly three months."

The half-breed's voice was so changed that I could
hardly hear him.

" It seemed to me," he resumed, " that in Martin Holt's
mind — no, I was not mistaken — there was something like
a suspicion."

" But tell me what he said ! Tell me exactly what he
asked you. What is it? "

I felt sure that the question put by Martin Holt, what-
soever its bearing, had been inspired by Hearne. Never-
theless, as I considered it well that the half-breed should
know nothing of the sealing-master's disquieting and inex-
plicable intervention in this tragic affair, I decided upon
concealing it from him.

" He asked me," replied Dirk Peters, " did I not remem-
ber Ned Holt of the Grampus, and whether he had perished
in the fight with the mutineers or in the shipwreck ; whether
he was one of the men who had been abandoned with Cap-
tain Barnard; in short, he asked me if I could tell him how
his brother died. Ah ! how ! "

No idea could be conveyed of the horror with which the
half-breed uttered words which revealed a profound loath-
ing of himself.

"And what answer did you make to Martin Holt?"

" None, none ! "

" You should have said that Ned Holt perished in the
wreck of the brig."

" I could not — understand me — I could not. The two
brothers are so like each other. In Martin Holt I seemed
to see Ned Holt. I was afraid, I got away from him."

The half-breed drew himself up with a sudden move-
ment, and I sat thinking, leaning my head on my hands.
These tardy questions of Holt's respecting his brother were
put, I had no doubt whatsoever, at the instigation of

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 357

Hearne, but what was his motive, and was it at the Falk-
lands that he had discovered the secret of Dirk Peters? I
had not breathed a word on the subject to anyone. To
the second question no answer suggested itself; the first
involved a serious issue. Did the sealing-master merely
desire to gratify his enmity against Dirk Peters, the only
one of the Falkland sailors who had always taken the side
of Captain Len Guy, and who had prevented the seizure
of the boat by Hearne and his companions? Did he hope,
by arousing the wrath and vengeance of Martin Holt to
detach the sailing-master from his allegiance and induce
him to become an accomplice in Hearne's own designs?
And, in fact, when it was a question of sailing the boat
in these seas, had he not imperative need of Martin Holt,
one of the best seamen of the Halbranef A man who
would succeed where Hearne and his companions would
fail, if they had only themselves to depend on?

I became lost in this labyrinth of hypotheses, and it
must be admitted that its complications added largely to
the troubles of an already complicated position.

When I raised my eyes, Dirk Peters had disappeared;
he had said what he came to say, and he now knew that
I had not betrayed his confidence.

The customary precautions were taken for the night, no
individual being allowed to remain outside the camp, with
the exception of the half-breed, who was in charge of the
boat.

The following day was the 31st of January. I pushed
back the canvas of the tent, which I shared with Captain
Len Guy and West respectively, as each succeeded the
other on release from the alternate " watch," very early,
and experienced a severe disappointment.

Mist everywhere ! Nay, more than mist, a thick, yellow,
moldy-smelling fog. And more than this again: the tem-
perature had fallen sensibly: this was probably a forewarn-
ing of the austral winter. The summit of our ice-moun-
tain was lost in vapor, in a fog which would not resolve
itself into rain, but would continue to muffle up the
horizon.

" Bad luck ! " said the boatswain, " for now if we were
to pass by land we should not perceive it."

"And our drift?"

358 THE SPHINX OF ICE

" More considerable than yesterday, Mr. Jeorling. The
captain has sounded, and he makes the speed at no less than
between three and four miles."

" And what do you conclude from this? "

" I conclude that we must be within a narrower sea,
since the current is so strong. I should not be surprised
if we had land on both sides of us within ten or fifteen
miles."

" This, then, would be a wide strait that cuts the Antarctic
continent? "

" Yes. Our captain is of that opinion."

"And, holding that opinion, is he not going to make
an attempt to reach one or other of the coasts of this
strait ? "

"And how? "

" With the boat."

" Risk the boat in the midst of this fog! " exclaimed the
boatswain, as he crossed his arms. " What are you think-
ing of, Mr. Jeorling? Can we cast anchor to wait for it?
And all the chances would be that we should never see it
again. Ah! if we only had the Halbrane!"

But there was no longer a Halbrane!

In spite of the difficulty of the ascent through the half-
condensed vapor, I climbed up to the top of the iceberg,
but when I had gained that eminence I strove in vain to
pierce the impenetrable gray mantle in which the waters
were wrapped.

I remained there, hustled by the northeast wind, which
was beginning to blow freshly and might perhaps rend the
fog asunder. But no, fresh vapors accumulated around
our floating refuge, driven tip by the immense ventilation
of the open sea. Under the double action of the atmos-
pheric and Antarctic currents, we drifted more and more
rapidly, and I perceived a sort of shudder pass throughout
the vast bulk of the iceberg.

Then it was that I felt myself under the dominion of a
sort of hallucination, one of those hallucinations which
must have troubled the mind of Arthur Pym. It seemed
to me that I was losing myself in his extraordinary per-
sonality; at last I was beholding all that he had seen! Was
not that impenetrable mist the curtain of vapors which he
had seen in his delirium? I peered into it, seeking for

"UNMERCIFUL DISASTER" 359

those luminous rays which had streaked the sky from east
to west! I sought in its depths for that limitless cataract,
rolling in silence from the height of some immense ram-
part, lost in the vastness of the zenith! I sought for the
awful white giant of the South Pole!

At length reason resumed her sway. This visionary
madness, intoxicating while it lasted, passed off by degrees,
and I descended the slope to our camp.

The whole day passed without a change. The fog never
once lifted to give us a glimpse outside of its muffling
folds, and if the iceberg, which had traveled forty miles
since the previous day, had passed by the extremity of the
axis of the earth, we should never know it.

CHAPTER XI

AMID THE MISTS

The mist did not lift during the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of
February, and it would have been difficult to make out the
rate of progress of our iceberg since it had passed the
pole. Captain Len Guy, however, and West, considered
themselves safe in reckoning it at two hundred and fifty
miles.

The current did not seem to have diminished in speed
or changed its course. It was now beyond a doubt that
we were moving between the two halves of a continent,
one on the east, the other on the west, which formed the
vast Antarctic region. And I thought it was matter of great
regret that we could not get aground on one or the other
side of this vast strait, whose surface would presently be
solidified by the coming of winter.

When I expressed this sentiment to Captain Len Guy,
he made me the only logical answer:

"What would you have, Mr. Jeorling? We are power-
less. There is nothing to be done, and the persistent
fog is the worst part of our ill luck. I no longer know
where we are. It is impossible to take an observation,
and just as the sun is about to disappear for many long
months."

" Let me come back to the question of the boat," said I,
" for the last time. Could we not, with the boat-^>"

360 THE SPHINX OF ICE

"Go on a discovery cruise? Can you think of such a
thing? That would be an imprudence I would not commit,
even though the crew would allow me."

I was on the point of exclaiming: "And what if your
brother and your countrymen have found refuge on some
spot of the land that undoubtedly lies about us?"

But I restrained myself. Of what avail was it to re-
awaken our captain's grief? He, too, must have con-
templated this eventuality, and he had not renounced his
purpose of further search without being fully convinced
of the folly of a last attempt.

During those three days of fog I had not caught sight
of Dirk Peters, or rather he had made no attempt to ap-
proach, but had remained inflexibly at his post by the boat.
Martin Holt's questions respecting his brother Ned seemed
to indicate that his secret was known — at least in part,
and the half-breed held himself more than ever aloof, sleep-
ing while the others watched, and watching in their time
of sleep. I even wondered whether he regretted having
confided in me, and fancied that he had aroused my repug-
nance by his sad story. If so, he was mistaken; I deeply
pitied the poor half-breed.

Nothing could exceed the melancholy monotony of the
hours which we passed in the midst of a fog so thick that
the wind could not lift its curtain. The position of the
iceberg could not be ascertained. It went with the current
at a like speed, and had it been motionless, there would
have been no appreciable difference for us, for the wind
had fallen — at least, so we supposed — and not a breath
was stirring. The flame of a torch held up in the air did
not flicker. The silence of space was broken only by the
clangor of the sea-birds, which came in muffled croaking
tones through the stifling atmosphere of vapor. Petrels
and albatross swept the top of the iceberg, where they kept
a useless watch in their flight. In what direction were
those swift-winged creatures — perhaps already driven
towards the confines of the Arctic region by the approach
of winter — bound? We could not tell. One day, the
boatswain, who was determined to solve this question if
possible, having mounted to the extreme top, not without
risk of breaking his neck, came into such violent contact
with a quebranta huesos — a sort of gigantic petrel meas-

AMID THE MISTS 361

uring twelve feet with spread wings — that he was flung on
his back.

" Curse the bird ! " he said on his return to the camp,
addressing the observation to me. " I have had a narrow
escape! A thump, and down I went, sprawling. I saved
myself I don't know how, for I was all 'but over the side.
Those ice ledges, you know, slip through one's fingers like
water. I called out to the bird, ' Can't you even look be-
fore you, you fool?' But what was the good of that?
The big blunderer did not even beg my pardon ! "

In the afternoon of the same day our ears were assailed
by a hideous braying from below. Hurliguerly remarked
that as there were no asses to treat us to the concert, it
must be given by penguins. Hitherto these countless dwell-
ers in the polar regions had not thought proper to accom-
pany us on our moving island ; we had not seen even one,
either at the foot of the iceberg or on the drifting packs.
There could be no doubt that they were there in thousands,
for the music was unmistakably that of a multitude of per-
formers. Now those birds frequent by choice the edges of
the coasts of islands and continents in high latitudes, or the
ice-fields in their neighborhood. Was not their presence
an indication that land was near?

I asked Captain Len Guy what he thought of the pres-
ence of these birds.

"I think what you think, Mr. Jeorling," he replied.
" Since we have been drifting, none of them have taken
refuge on the iceberg, and here they are now in crowds,
if we may judge by their deafening cries. From whence
do they come ? "

At nine o'clock next morning the iceberg doffed its cap
of vapor quite suddenly, producing an indescribable trans-
formation scene which no fairy's wand could have accom-
plished in less time or with greater success.

In a few moments, the sky was clear to the extreme
verge of the horizon, and the sea reappeared, illumined by
the oblique rays of the sun, which now rose only a few
degrees above it. A rolling swell of the waves bathed the
base of our icberg in white foam, as it drifted, together
with a great multitude of floating mountains under the
double action of wind and current, on a course inclining to
the nor'-nor'-east,

362 THE SPHINX OF ICE

"Land!"

This cry came from the summit of the moving mountain,
and Dirk Peters was revealed to our sight, standing on the
outermost block, his hand stretched towards the north.

The half-breed was not mistaken. The land this time — ■
yes! — it was land! Its distant heights, of a blackish hue,
rose within three or four miles of us. 86° 12' south lat-
itude. 1 1 40 17' east longitude.

The iceberg was nearly four degrees beyond the Antarctic
pole, and from the western longitudes that our schooner
had followed tracing the course of the Jane, we had passed
into the eastern longitudes.

The land on the north evidently formed a continent or
island of considerable extent. On the west there was a
sharply projecting cape, surmounted by a sloping height
which resembled an enormous seal's head on the side view;
then beyond that was a wide stretch of sea. On the east
the land was prolonged out of sight.

Each one of us took in the position. It depended on
the current whether it would carry the iceberg into an
eddy which might drive it on the coast, or continue to
drift it towards the north.

Which was the more admissible hypothesis?

Captain Len Guy, West, Hurliguerly, and I talked over
the matter, while the crew discussed it among themselves.
Finally, it was agreed that the current tended rather to
carry the iceberg towards the northern point of land.

" After all," said Captain Len Guy, "if it is habitable
during the months of the summer season, it does not look
like being inhabited, since we cannot descry a human being
on the shore."

" I acknowledge that — barrenness and desolation, that is
all. Nevertheless, I want to ask you whether it is your
intention to go ashore, captain? "

"With the boat?"

" With the boat, should the current carry our iceberg
away from the land."

" We have not an hour to lose, Mr. Jeorling, and the
delay of a few hours might condemn us to a cruel winter
stay, if we arrived too late at the iceberg barrier."

"And, considering the distance, we are not too soon,"
observed West,

AMID THE MISTS 363

" I grant it," I replied, still persisting. " But, to leave
this land behind us without ever having set foot on it,
without having made sure that it does not preserve the
traces of an encampment, if your brother, captain — his
companions "

Captain Len Guy shook his head. How could the cast-
aways have supported life in this desolate region for sev-
eral months?

Besides, the British flag was hoisted on the summit of
the iceberg, and William Guy would have recognized it
and come down to the shore had he been living.

At five in the afternoon, the iceberg plunged into a deep
rift in the coast ending in a long point on the right, and
there stuck fast.

" On shore ! On shore ! " burst from every man, like
a single exclamation, and the men were already hurrying
down the slope of the iceberg, when West commanded:
"Wait for orders!"

Some hesitation was shown — especially on the part of
Hearne and several of his comrades. Then the instinct of
discipline prevailed, and finally the whole crew ranged
themselves around Captain Len Guy. It was not necessary
to lower the boat, the iceberg being in contact with the
point.

The captain, the boatswain, and myself, preceding the
others, were the first to quit the camp; ours were the first
human feet to tread this virgin and volcanic soil.

We walked for twenty minutes on rough land, strewn
with rocks of igneous origin, solidified lava, dusty slag,
and gray ashes, but without enough clay to grow even the
hardiest plants.

With some risk and difficulty, Captain Len Guy, the
boatswain, and I succeeded in climbing the hill; this ex-
ploit occupied a whole hour. Although evening had now
come, it brought no darkness in its train. From the top
of the hill we could see over an extent of from thirty to
forty miles, and this was what we saw.

Behind us lay the open sea, laden with floating masses;
a great number of these had recently heaped themselves
up against the beach and rendered it almost wholly inacces-
sible.

On the west was a strip of hilly land, which extended

364 THE SPHINX OF ICE

beyond our sight, and was washed on its east side by a
boundless sea. It was evident that we had been carried
by the drift through a strait.

Ah! if we had only had our Halbrane! But our sole
possession was a frail craft barely capable of containing a
dozen men, and we were twenty-three!

There was nothing for it but to go down to the shore
again, to carry the tents to the beach, and take measures
in view of a winter sojourn under the terrible conditions
imposed upon us by circumstances.

On our return to the coast the boatswain discovered
several caverns in the granitic cliffs, sufficiently spacious
to house us all and afford storage for the cargo of the
Halbrane. Whatever might be our ultimate decision, we
could not do better than place our material and install our-
selves in this opportune shelter.

After we had reascended the slopes of the iceberg and
reached our camp, Captain Len Guy had the men mustered.
The only missing man was Dirk Peters, who had decidedly
isolated himself from the crew. There was nothing to
fear from him, however; he would be with the faithful
against the mutinous, and under all circumstances we might
count upon him. When the circle had been formed, Cap-
tain Len Guy spoke, without allowing any sign of dis-
couragement to appear, and explained the position with the
utmost frankness and lucidity, stating in the first place
that it was absolutely necessary to lower the cargo to the
coast and stow it away in one of the caverns. Concerning
the vital question of food, he stated that the supply of
flour, preserved meat, and dried vegetables would suffice
for the winter, however prolonged, and on that of fuel
he was satisfied that we should not want for coal, pro-
vided it was not wasted; and it would be possible to
economize it, as the hibernating waifs might brave the
cold of the polar zone under a covering of snow and a roof
of ice.

Was the captain's tone of security feigned? I did not
think so, especially as West approved of what he said.

A third question raised by Hearne remained, and was
well calculated to arouse jealousy and anger among the
crew. It was the question of the use to be made of the
only craft remaining to us. Ought the boat to be kept

AMID THE MISTS 365

for the needs of our hibernation, or used to enable us to
return to the iceberg barrier?

Captain Len Guy would not pronounce upon this; he
desired to postpone the decision for twenty-four or forty-
eight hours. The boat, carrying the provisions necessary
for such a voyage, could not accommodate more than eleven
or, at the outside, twelve men. If the departure of the
boat were agreed to, then its passengers must be selected
by lot. The captain proceeded to state that neither West,
the boatswain, I, nor he would claim any privilege, but
would submit to the fortune of the lot with all the others.
Both Martin Holt and Hardy were perfectly capable of
taking the boat to the fishing-grounds, where the whalers
would still be found. Then, those to whom the lot should
fall were not to forget their comrades, left to winter on
the eighty-sixth parallel, and were to send a ship to take
them off at the return of summer.

All this was said in a tone as calm as it was firm. I
must do Captain Len Guy the justice to say that he rose
to the occasion.

When he had concluded — without any interruption even
from Hearne — no one made a remark. There was, in-
deed, none to be made, since, in the given case, lots were
to be drawn under conditions of perfect equality.

The hour of rest having arrived, each man entered the
camp, partook of the supper prepared by Endicott, and
went to sleep for the last time under the tents.

On the following day, the 7th of February, everybody
set to work early with a will. The boat was let down with
all due precaution to the base of the iceberg, and drawn
up by the men on a little sandy beach out of reach of the
water. It was in perfectly good condition, and thoroughly
serviceable.

Our occupation continued on the 8th, 9th, and 10th'
February, and our task was finished in the afternoon of the
10th. The cargo was safely stowed in the interior of a
large grotto, with access to it by a narrow opening. We
were to inhabit the adjoining grotto, and Endicott set up
his kitchen in the latter, on the advice of the boatswain.
Thus we should profit by the heat of the stove, which was
to cook our food and warm the cavern during the long
days, or rather the long nights of the austral winter.

366 THE SPHINX OF ICE

During the process of housing and storing, I observed
nothing to arouse suspicion in the bearing of Hearne and
the Falklands men. Nevertheless, the half-breed was kept
on guard at the boat, which might easily have been seized
upon the beach.

I had been asleep for some hours on the last night, when
I was awakened by a great shouting at a short distance. I
sprang up instantly and darted out of the cavern, simul-
taneously with the captain and West, who had also been
suddenly aroused from sleep.

" The boat ! the boat ! " cried West.

The boat 'was no longer in its place — that place so

jealously guarded by Dirk Peters. They had pushed the

boat into the sea, three men had got into it with bales and

casks, while ten others strove to control the half-breed.

Hearne was there, and Martin Holt also; the latter, it
seemed to me, was not interfering.

These wretches, then, intended to depart before the
lots were drawn; they meant to forsake us. They had
succeeded in surprising Dirk Peters, and they would have
killed him, had he not fought hard for life.

In the face of this mutiny, knowing our inferiority of
numbers, and not knowing whether he might count on all
the old crew, Captain Len Guy re-entered the cavern with
West in order to procure arms. Hearne and his accom-
plices were armed.

I was about to follow them when the following words
arrested my steps. The half-breed, overpowered by num-
bers, had been knocked down, and at this moment Martin
Holt, in gratitude to the man who saved his life, was rush-
ing to his aid, but Hearne called out to him, " Leave the
fellow alone, and come with us ! "

Martin Holt hesitated.

"Yes, leave him alone, I say; leave Dirk Peters, the as-
sassin of your brother, alone."

" The assassin of my brother ! "

"Your brother, killed on board the Grampus "

"Killed! by Dirk Peters?"

"Yes! Killed and eaten — eaten — eaten!" repeated
Hearne, who pronounced the hateful words with a kind of
howl. And then, at a sign from Hearne, two of his com-
rades seized Martin Holt and dragged him into the boat.

AMID THE MISTS 367

Hearne was instantly followed by all those whom he had
induced to join in this criminal deed.

At that moment Dirk Peters rose from the ground, and
sprang upon one of the Falklands men as he was in the
act of stepping on the platform of the boat, lifted him up
bodily, hurled him round his head and dashed his brains
out against a rock. In an instant the half-breed fell, shot
in the shoulder by a bullet from Hearne's pistol, and the
boat was pushed off.

Then Captain Len Guy and West came out of the
cavern — the whole scene had passed in less than a minute —
and ran down to the point, which they reached together
with the boatswain, Hardy, Francis, and Stern.

The boat, which was drawn by the current, was already
some distance off, and the tide was falling rapidly.

West shouldered his gun and fired; a sailor dropped in-
to the 'bottom of the boat. A second shot, fired by Captain
Len Guy, grazed Hearne's breast, and the ball was lost
among the ice-blocks at the moment when the boat dis-
appeared behind the iceberg.

The only thing for us to do was to cross to the other side
of the point. The current would carry the wretches
thither, no doubt, before it bore them northward. If they
passed within range, and if a second shot should hit Hearne,
either killing or wounding him, his companions might per-
haps decide on coming back to us.

A quarter of an hour elapsed. When the boat appeared
at the other side of the point, it was so far off that our
bullets could not reach it. Hearne had already had the sail
set, and the boat, impelled by wind and current jointly,
was soon no more than a white speck on the face of the
waters, and speedily disappeared.

CHAPTER XII

FOUND AT LAST

The question of our wintering on the land whereon we
had been thrown was settled for us. But, after all, the
situation was not changed for those among the nine (now
only remaining of the twenty-three) who should not have
drawn the lot of departure. Who could speculate upon the

368 THE SPHINX OF ICE

chances of the whole nine? Might not all of them have
drawn the lot of "stay"? And, when every chance was
fully weighed, was that of those who had left us the best?
To this question there could be no answer.

When the boat had disappeared, Captain Len Guy and
his companions retraced their steps towards the cavern
in which we must live for all the time during which we
could not go out, in the dread darkness of the Antarctic
winter. My first thought was of Dirk Peters, who, being
wounded, could not follow us when we hurried to the other
side of the point.

On reaching the cavern I failed to find the half-breed.
Was he severely wounded? Should we have to mourn
the death of this man who was as faithful to us as to his
" poor Pym " ?

"Let us search for him, Mr. Jeorling! " cried the boat-
swain.

" We will go together," said the captain. " Peters would
never have forsaken us, and we will not forsake him."

" Would he come back," said I, " now that what he
thought was known to him and me only has come out?"

I informed my companions of the reason why the name
of Ned Holt had been changed to that of Parker in Ar-
thur Pym's narrative, and of the circumstances under
which the half-breed had apprised me of the fact. At
the same time I urged every consideration that might ex-
culpate him, dwelling in particular upon the point that if
the lot had fallen to Dirk Peters, he would have been the
victim of the others' hunger.

"Dirk Peters confided this secret to you only?" in-
quired Captain Len Guy.

" To me only, captain."

" And you have kept it? "

" Absolutely."

" Then I cannot understand how it came to the knowl-
edge of Hearne."

At first," I replied, " I thought Peters might have
talked in his sleep, and that it was by chance Martin Holt
learned the secret. After reflection, however, I recalled to
mind that when the half-breed related the scene on the
Grampus to me, he was in my cabin, and the side sash was
raised. I have reason to think that the man at the wheel

FOUND AT LAST 369

overhead our conversation. Now that man was Hearne,
who, in order to hear it more clearly, let go the wheel, so
that the Halbrane lurched "

"I remember," said West, "I questioned the fellow
sharply, and sent him down into the hold."

" Well, then, captain," I resumed, " it was from that day
that Hearne made up to Martin Holt. Hurliguerly called
my attention to the fact."

" Of course he did," said the boatswain, " for Hearne,
not being capable of managing the boat which he intended
to seize, required a master-hand like Holt."

" And so," I said, " he kept on urging Holt to question
the half-breed concerning his brother's fate, and you know
how Holt came at last to learn the fearful truth. Martin
Holt seemed to be stupefied by the revelation. The others
dragged him away, and now he is with them ! " We were
all agreed that things had happened as I supposed, and now
the question was, did Dirk Peters, in his present state of
mind, mean to absent himself? Would he consent to re-
sume his place among us?

We all left the cavern, and after an hour's search we
came in sight of Dirk Peters, whose first impulse was to
escape from us. At length, however, Hurliguerly and
Francis came up with him. He stood still and made no
resistance. I advanced and spoke to him, the others did
the same. Captain Len Guy offered him his hand, which
he took after a moment's hesitation. Then, without utter-
ing a single word, he returned towards the beach.

From that day no allusion was ever made to the tragic
story of the Grampus. Dirk Peters' wound proved to be
slight; he merely wrapped a piece of sailcloth round the
injured arm, and went off to his work with entire uncon-
cern.

We made all the preparation in our power for a pro-
longed hibernation. Winter was threatening us. For
some days past the sun hardly showed at all through the
mists. The temperature fell to 36 degrees and would rise
no more, while the solar rays, casting shadows of endless
length upon the soil, gave hardly any heat. The captain
made us put on warm woolen clothes without waiting for
the cold to become more severe.

Icebergs, packs, streams, and drifts came in greater

V. XIV Verne

370 THE SPHINX OF ICE

numbers from the south. Some of these struck and stayed
upon the coast, which was already heaped up with ice, but
the greater number disappeared in the direction of the
northeast.

" All these pieces," said the boatswain, " will go to the
closing up of the iceberg wall. If Hearne and his lot of
scoundrels are not ahead of them, I imagine they will find
the door shut, and as they have no key to open it with "

" I suppose you think, boatswain, that our case is less
desperate than theirs?"

" I do think so, Mr. Jeorling, and I have always thought
so. If everything had been done as it was settled, and
the lot had fallen to me to go with the boat, I would have
given up my turn to one of the others. After all, there is
something in feeling dry ground under your feet. I don't
wish the death of anybody, but if Hearne and his friends
do not succeed in clearing the iceberg barrier — if they are
doomed to pass the winter on the ice, reduced for food to
a supply that will only last a few weeks, you know the fate
that awaits them ! "

" Yes, a fate worse than ours ! "

" And besides," said the boatswain, " even supposing
they do reach the Antarctic Circle. If the whalers have al-
ready left the fishing-grounds, it is not a laden and over-
laden craft that will keep the sea until the Australian coasts
are in sight."

This was my own opinion, and also that of the captain
and West.

During the following four days, we completed the stor-
age of the whole of our belongings, and made some ex-
cursions into the interior of the country, finding " all bar-
ren," and not a trace that any landing had ever been made
there.

One day, Captain Len Guy proposed that we should
give a geographical name to the region whither the iceberg
had carried us. It was named Halbrane Land, in memory
of our schooner, and we called the strait that separated
the two parts of the polar continent the Jane Sound.

Then we took to shooting the penguins which swarmed
upon the rocks, and to capturing some of the amphibious
animals which frequented the beach. We began to feel
the want of fresh meat, and Endicott's cooking rendered

FOUND AT LAST 371

seal and walrus flesh quite palatable. Besides, the fat of
these creatures would serve, at need, to warm the cavern
and feed the cooking-stove. Our most formidable enemy
would be the cold, and we must fight it by every means
within our power. It remained to be seen whether the
amphibia would not forsake Halbrane Land at the ap-
proach of winter, and seek a less rigorous climate in lower
latitudes. Fortunately there were hundreds of other
animals to secure our little company from hunger, and
even from thirst, at need. The beach was the home of
numbers of galapagos — a kind of turtle so called from an
archipelago in the equinoctial sea, where also they abound,
and mentioned by Arthur Pym as supplying food to the
islanders. It will be remembered that Pym and Peters
found three of these galapagos in the native boat which
carried them away from Tsalal Island.

On the 19th of February an incident occurred — an in-
cident which those who acknowledge the intervention of
Providence in human affairs will recognize as providential.

It was eight o'clock in the morning; the weather was
calm; the sky was tolerably clear; the thermometer stood
at thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit. We were in the cavern,
with the exception of the boatswain, waiting for our break-
fast, which Endicott was preparing, and were about to take
our places at table, when we heard a call from outside.

The voice was Hurliguerly's, and we hurried out. On
seeing us, he cried, " Come — come quickly ! "

He was standing on a rock at the foot of the hillock
above the beach in which Halbrane Land ended beyond
the point, and his right hand was stretched out towards the
sea.

"What is it?" asked Captain Len Guy.

" A boat."

" Is it the Halbrane' s boat coming back? "

" No, captain — it is not."

Then we perceived a boat, not to be mistaken for that
of our schooner in form or dimensions, drifting without
oars or paddle, seemingly abandoned to the current.

We had but one idea in common — to seize at any cost
upon this derelict craft, which would, perhaps, prove our
salvation. But how were we to reach it? how were we to
get it in to the point of Halbrane Land?

372 THE SPHINX OF ICE

While we were looking distractedly at the boat and at
each other, there came a sudden splash at the end of the
hillock, as though a body had fallen into the sea.

It was Dirk Peters, who, having flung off his clothes,
had sprung from the top of a rock, and was swimming
rapidly towards the boat before we made him out.

We cheered him heartily. I never beheld anything like
that swimming. He bounded through the waves like a
porpoise, and indeed he possessed the strength of one.
What might not be expected of such a man!

In a few minutes the halfJbreed had swum several cables'
lengths towards the boat in an oblique direction. We
could only see his head like a black speck on the surface of
the rolling waves. A period of suspense, of intense watch-
ing of the brave swimmer succeeded. Surely, surely he
would reach the boat; but must he not be carried away
with it? Was it to be believed that even his great
strength would enable him, swimming, to tow it to the
beach ?

"After all, why should there not be oars in the boat?"
said the boatswain.

"He has it! He has it! Hurrah, Dirk, hurrah!"
shouted Hurliguerly, and Endicott echoed his exultant
cheer.

The half-breed had, in fact, reached the boat and raised
himself alongside, half out of the water. His big, strong
hand grasped the side, and at the risk of causing the boat
to capsize, he hoisted himself up to the side, stepped over
it, and sat down to draw his breath.

Almost instantly a shout reached our ears. It was:
uttered by Dirk Peters. What had he found? Paddles!
It must be so, for we saw him seat himself in the front of
the boat, and paddle with all his strength in striving to
get out of the current.

"Come along!" said the captain, and, turning the base
of the hillock, we all ran along the edge of the beach be-
tween the blackish stones that bestrewed it.

After some time, West stopped us. The boat had
reached the shelter of a small projection at that place, and
it was evident that it would be run ashore there.

When it was within five or six cables' lengths, and the
eddy was helping it on, Dirk Peters let go the paddles,

FOUND AT LAST 373

stooped towards the after-part of the boat, and then raised
himself, holding up an inert body.

An agonized cry from Captain Len Guy rent the air!

" My brother — my brother ! "

" He is living! He is living! " shouted Dirk Peters.

A' moment later, the boat had touched the beach, and
Captain Len Guy held his brother in his arms.

Three of William Guy's companions lay apparently life-
less in the bottom of the boat. And these four men were
all that remained of the crew of the Jane.

CHAPTER XIII

ELEVEN YEARS IN A FEW PAGES

We carried our treasure-trove to the cavern, and had
the happiness of restoring all four men to life. In reality,
it was hunger, nothing but hunger, which had reduced the
poor fellows to the semblance of death.

On the 8th of February, 1828, the crew of the Jane,
having no reason to doubt the good faith of the population
of Tsalal Island, or that of their chief, Too-Wit, disem-
barked, in order to visit the village of Klock-Klock, having
previously put the schooner into a state of defence, leav-
ing six men on board.

The crew, counting William Guy, the captain, Arthur
Pym, and Dirk Peters, formed a body of thirty-two men,
armed with guns, pistols, and knives. The dog Tiger ac-
companied them.

On reaching the narrow gorge leading to the village,
preceded and followed by the numerous warriors of Too-
Wit, the little company divided, Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters,
and Allen (the sailor) entering a cleft in the hill-side,
with the intention of crossing it to the other side. From
that moment their companions were never to see them
more. After a short interval a shock was felt. The op-
posite hill fell down in a vast heap, burying William Guy
and his twenty-eight companions.

Twenty-two of these unfortunate men were crushed to
'death on the instant, and their bodies would never be found
under that mass of earth. Seven, miraculously sheltered

374 THE SPHINX OF ICE

in the depth of a great cleft of the hill, had survived the
catastrophe. These were William Guy, Patterson, Rob-
erts, Covin, Trinkle, also Forbes and Sexton, since dead.
As for Tiger, they knew not whether he had perished in
the landslip, or whether he had escaped. There existed in
the right side of the hill, as well as in the left, on either
side of the fissure, certain winding passages, and it was
by crawling along these in the darkness that William Guy,
Patterson, and the others reached a cavity which let in light
and air in abundance. From this shelter they beheld the
attack on the Jane by sixty pirogues, the defense made by
the six men on board, the invasion of the ship by the sav-
ages, and finally the explosion which caused the death of a
vast number of natives as well as the complete destruction
of the ship.

Too-Wit and the Tsalal islanders were at first terrified
by the effects of this explosion, but probably still more
disappointed. Their instincts of pillage could not be
gratified, because some valueless wreckage was all that re-
mained of the ship and her cargo, and they had no reason
to suppose that any of the crew had survived the cleverly-
contrived collapse of the hill. Hence it came about that
Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters on the one side, and William
Guy and his companions on the other, were enabled to
remain undisturbed in the labyrinths of Klock-Klock,
where they fed on the flesh of bitterns — these they could
catch with their hands — and the fruit of the nut-trees which
grow on the hill sides. They procured fire by rubbing
pieces of soft against pieces of hard wood; there was a
quantity of both within their reach.

On the 22nd of February, in the morning, William Guy
and Patterson were talking together, in terrible perplexity
of mind, at the orifice of the cavity that opened upon the
country. They no longer knew how to provide for the
wants of seven persons, who were then reduced to eating
nuts only, and were suffering in consequence from severe
pain in the head and stomach. They could see big turtles
crawling on the beach, but how could they venture to go
thither, with hundreds of natives coming and going about
their several occupations, with their constant cry of
tekeli-li?

Suddenly, this crowd of people became violently agitated.

ELEVEN YEARS IN A FEW PAGES 375

Men, women, and children ran wildly about on every side.
Some of the savages even took to their boats as though a
great danger were at hand.

What was happening ? William Guy and his companions
were very soon informed. The cause of the tumult was the
appearance of an unknown animal, a terrible quadruped,
which dashed into the midst of the islanders, snapping at
and biting them indiscriminately, as it sprang at their throats
with a hoarse growling.

And yet the infuriated animal was alone, and might
easily have been killed by stones or arrows. Why then
did a crowd of savages manifest such abject terror? Why
did they take to flight? Why did they appear incapable of
defending themselves against this one beast?

The animal was white, and the sight of it had produced
the phenomenon previously observed, that inexplicable
terror of whiteness common to all the natives of Tsalal.

To their extreme surprise, William Guy and his com-
panions recognized the strange animal as the dog Tiger.
Yes! Tiger had escaped from the crumbling mass of the
hill and betaken himself to the interior of the island, whence
he had returned to Klock-Klock, to spread terror among
the natives. But Tiger was no mere phantom foe; he was-
the most dangerous and deadly of enemies, for the poor
animal was mad, and his fangs were fatal;

This was the reason why the greater part of the Tsalal is-
landers took to flight. It was under these extraordinary
circumstances that they abandoned their island, whither
they were destined never to return.

Although the boats carried off the bulk of the popula-
tion, a considerable number still remained on Tsalal, hav-
ing no means of escape, and their fate accomplished itself
quickly. Several natives who were bitten by Tiger de-
veloped hydrophobia rapidly, and attacked the others.
Fearful scenes ensued, and are briefly to be summed up in
one dismal statement. The bones we had seen in or near
Klock-Klock were those of the poor savages, which had lain
there bleaching for eleven years!

The poor dog had died, after he had done his fell work,
in a corner on the beach, where Dirk Peters found his
skeleton and the collar bearing the name of Arthur Pym.

Then, after those natives who could not escape from the

376 THE SPHINX OF ICE

island had all perished in the manner described, William
Guy, Patterson, Trinkle, Covin, Forbes, and Sexton ven-
tured to come out of the labyrinth, where they were on
the verge of death by starvation.

What sort of existence was that of the seven survivors
of the expedition during the eleven ensuing years? On
the whole, it was more endurable than might have been
supposed. The natural products of an extremely fertile
soil and the presence of a certain number of domestic
animals secured them against want of food; they had only
to make out the best shelter for themselves they could con-
trive, and wait for an opportunity of getting away from the
island with as much patience as might be granted to them.
And from whence could such an opportunity come? Only
from one of the many chances within the resources of
Providence.

So, then, as William Guy told us, not an incident oc-
curred to break the monotony of that existence of eleven
years — not even the reappearance of the islanders, who
were kept away from Tsalal by superstitious terror. No
danger had threatened them during all that time; but, of
course, as it became more and more prolonged, they lost
the hope of ever being rescued. At first, with the return of
the fine season, when the sea was once more open, they had
thought it possible that a ship would be sent in search of
the Jane. But after four or five years they relinquished all
hope.

The month of May corresponds in those regions to the
month of November in northern lands — and the ice-packs
which the current carried towards the north were beginning
in May to drift past Tsalal. One day, one of the seven
men failed to return to the cavern. They called, they
waited, they searched for him. All was in vain. He did
not reappear; no doubt he had been drowned. He was
never more seen by his fellow -exiles.

This man was Patterson, the faithful companion of
William Guy. Now, what William Guy did not know, but
we told him, was that Patterson — under what circumstances
none would ever learn — had been carried away on the sur-
face of an ice-block, where he died of hunger. And on
that ice-block, which had traveled so far as Prince Edward
Island, the boatswain had discovered the corpse of the un-

ELEVEN YEARS IN M FEW PAGES 377

fortunate man almost decomposed by the action of the
warmer waters.

When Captain Len Guy told his brother of the find-
ing of the body of Patterson, and how it was owing to the
notes in his pocket-book that the Halbrane had been en-
abled to proceed towards the Antarctic sea, William Guy
hid his face in his hands and wept.

Other misfortunes followed upon this one.

Five months after the disappearance of Patterson, in the
middle of October, Tsalal Island was laid waste from coast
to coast by an earthquake, which destroyed the southwest-
ern group almost entirely. William Guy and his com-
panions must soon have perished on the barren land, which
no longer could give them food, had not the means of leav-
ing its coast, now merely an expanse of tumbled rocks,
been afforded them in an almost miraculous manner. Two
days after the earthquake, the current carried ashore within
a few hundred yards of their cavern a boat which had
drifted from the island group on the southwest.

Without the delay of even one day, the boat was laden
with as much of the remaining provisions as it could con-
tain, and the six men embarked in it, bidding adieu forever
to the now uninhabitable island.

Unfortunately a very strong breeze was blowing; it was
impossible to resist it, and the boat was driven southwards
by that very same current which had caused our iceberg to
drift to the coast of Halbrane Land.

For two months and a half these poor fellows were borne
across the open sea, with no control over their course. It
was not until the 2d of January in the present year (1840)
that they sighted land — east of the Jane Sound.

Now, we already knew this land was not more than fifty
miles from Halbrane Land. Yes ! so small, relatively, was
the distance that separated us from those whom we had
sought for in the Antarctic regions far and wide, and con-
cerning whom we had lost hope.

Their boat had gone ashore far to the southeast of us.
But on how different a coast from that of Tsalal Island, or,
rather, on one how like that of Halbrane Land! Nothing
was to be seen but sand and stones; neither trees, shrubs,
nor plants of any kind. Their provisions were almost
exhausted; William Guy and his companions were soon

378 THE SPHINX OF ICE

reduced to extreme want, and two of the little company,
Forbes and Sexton, died.

The remaining four resolved not to remain a single day-
longer in the place where they were doomed to die of
hunger. They embarked in the boat with the small supply
of food still remaining, and once more abandoned them-
selves to the current, without having been able to verify
their position, for want of instruments.

Thus had they been borne upon the unknown deep for
twenty-five days, their resources were completely ex-
hausted, and they had not eaten for forty-eight hours, when
the boat, with its occupants lying inanimate at the bottom
of it, was sighted from Halbrane Land. The rest is al-
ready known to the reader of this strange, eventful history.

And now the two brothers were at length reunited in
that remote corner of the big world which we had dubbed
Halbrane Land.

CHAPTER XIV

" WE WERE THE FIRST "

Two days later not one of the survivors from the two
schooners, the Jane and the Halbrane, remained upon any
coast of the Antarctic region.

On the 2 ist of February, at six o'clock in the morning,
the boat, with us all (we numbered thirteen) in it, left the
little creek and doubled the point of Halbrane Land. On
the previous day we had fully and finally debated the
question of our departure, with the understanding that we
should start without delay.

The captain of the Jane was for an immediate departure,
and Captain Len Guy was not opposed to it. I willingly
sided with them, and West was of a similar opinion. The
boatswain was inclined to oppose us. He considered it im-
prudent to give up a certainty for the uncertain, and he was
backed by Endicott, who would in any case say " ditto "
to his " Mr. Burke." However, Hurliguerly conformed to
the view of the majority with a good grace, and declared
himself quite ready to set out, since we were all of that
way of thinking.

Needless to say that the greater part of the cargo of the

"WE WERE THE FIRST" 379

Halbrane was left in our cavern, fully protected from the
weather, at the disposal of any shipwrecked people who
might chance to be thrown on the coast of Halbrane Land.
The boatswain had planted a spar on the top of this slope
to attract attention. But, our two schooners notwithstand-
ing, what vessel would ever venture 'into such latitudes?

Our boat was one of those in use in the Tsalal Archi-
pelago for plying between the islands. We knew, from
the narrative of Pym, that these boats are of two kinds,
one resembling rafts or flat boats, the other strongly-built
Our boat was of the former kind, forty feet long, six feet
in width, and worked by several paddles.

We called our little craft the Par acuta, after a fish which
abounds in these waters. A rough image of that denizen
of the southern deep was cut upon the gunwale.

I desire to lay special stress on the fact that not a single
scrap of iron entered into the construction of this boat,
not so much as a nail or a bolt, for that metal was entirely
unknown to the Tsalal islanders. The planks were bound
together by a sort of liana, or creeping-plant, and caulked
with moss steeped in pitch, which was turned by the sea-
water to a substance as hard as metal.

I have nothing special to record during the week that
succeeded our departure. The breeze blew steadily from
the south, and we did not meet with any unfavorable cur-
rent between the banks of Jane Sound. During those first
eight days, the Paracuta, by paddling when the wind fell,
had kept up the speed that was indispensable for our reach-
ing the Pacific Ocean within a short time.

The desolate aspect of the land remained the same,
while the strait was already visited by floating drifts, packs
of one to two hundred feet in length, some oblong, others
circular, and also by icebergs which our boat passed easily.
We were made anxious, however, by the fact that these
masses were proceeding towards the iceberg barrier, for
would they not close the passages, which ought to be still
open at this time ?

I shall mention here that in proportion as Dirk Peters
was carried farther and farther from the places wherein no
trace of his poor Pym had been found, he was more silent
than ever, and no longer even answered me when I ad-
dressed him.

380 THE SPHINX OF ICE

It must not be forgotten that since our iceberg had passed
beyond the south pole, we were in the zone of eastern
longitudes counted from the zero of Greenwich to the hun-
dred and eightieth degree. All hope must therefore be
abandoned of our either touching at the Falklands, or find-
ing whaling-ships in the waters of the Sandwich Islands,
the South Orkneys, or South Georgia.

Our voyage proceeded under unaltered conditions for ten
days. Our little craft was perfectly seaworthy. The
two captains and West fully appreciated its soundness, al-
though, as I have previously said, not a scrap of iron had
a place in its construction. It had not once been necessary
to repair its seams, so staunch were they. To be sure, the
sea was smooth, its long, rolling waves were hardly ruffled
on their surface.

On the ioth of March with the same longitude the ob-
servation gave 780 13' for latitude. The speed of the
Paracuta had then been thirty miles in each twenty-four
hours. If this rate of progress could be maintained for
another three weeks, there was every chance of our finding
the passes open, and being able to get round the iceberg
barrier; also that the whaling-ships would not yet have
left the fishing-grounds.

The sun was on the verge of the horizon, and the time
was approaching when the Antarctic region would be
shrouded in polar night. Fortunately, in reascending to-
wards the north we were getting into waters from whence
light was not yet banished. Then did we witness a
phenomenon as extraordinary as any of those described
by Arthur Pym. For three or four hours, sparks, accom-
panied by a sharp noise, shot out of our fingers' ends, our
hair, and our beards. There was an electric snow-storm,
with great flakes falling loosely, and the contact produced
this strange luminosity. The sea rose so suddenly and
tumbled about so wildly that the Paracuta was several
times in danger of being swallowed up by the waves, but
we got through the mystic-seeming tempest all safe and
sound.

Nevertheless, space was thenceforth but imperfectly
lighted. Frequent mists came up and bounded our outlook
to a few cable-lengths. Extreme watchfulness and caution
were necessary to avoid collision with the floating masses

"WE WERE THE FIRST" 381

of ice, which were traveling more slowly than the Paracuta.
The temperature fell very perceptibly, and no longer rose
above twenty-three degrees.

Forty-eight hours later Captain Len Guy and his brother
succeeded with great difficulty in taking an approximate
observation, with the following results of their calculations:
Longitude: 1180 3' east.
Latitude: 75 ° 17' south.

rKt this date, therefore (12th of March), the Paracuta
was distant from the waters of the Antarctic Circle only
four hundred miles. During the night a thick fog came
on, with a subsidence of the breeze. This was to be re-
gretted, for it increased the risk of collision with the float-
ing ice. Of course fog could not be a surprise to us, being
where we were, but what did surprise us was the gradually
increasing speed of our boat, although the falling of the
wind ought to have lessened it.

This increase of speed could not be due to the current
for we were going more quickly than it.

This state of things lasted until morning, without our
being able to account for what was happening, when at
about ten o'clock the mist began to disperse in the low
zones. The coast on the west reappeared — a rocky coast,
without a mountainous background; the Paracuta was fol-
lowing its line.

And then, no more than a quarter of a mile away, we
beheld a huge mound, reared above the plain to a height
of three hundred feet, with a circumference of from two to
three hundred feet. In its strange form this great mound
resembled an enormous sphinx; the body upright, the paws
stretched out, crouching in the attitude of the winged
monster of Grecian Mythology.

Was this a living animal, a gigantic monster, a mastodon
a thousand times the size of those enormous elephants of
the polar seas whose remains are still found in the ice?
In our frame of mind we might have believed also that the
mastodon was about to hurl itself on our little craft and
crush it to atoms.

After a few moments of unreasoning and unreasonable
fright, we recognized that the strange object was only a
great mound, singularly shaped, and that the mist had just
rolled off its head, leaving it to stand out and confront us.

382 THE SPHINX OF ICE

Ah! that sphinx! I remembered, at sight of it, that on
the night when the iceberg was overturned and the Hal-
brane was carried away, I had dreamed of a fabulous ani-
mal of this kind, seated at the pole of the world, and from
whom Edgar Poe only could wrest its secrets.

But our attention was to be attracted, our surprise, even
our alarm, was evoked soon by phenomena still more
strange than the mysterious earth from upon which the
mist-curtain had been raised so suddenly.

I have said that the speed of the Paracuta was gradually
increasing; now it was excessive, that of the current re-
maining inferior to' it. Now, of a sudden, the grapnel
that had belonged to the Halbrane, and was in the bow of
the boat, flew out of its socket as though drawn by an
irresistible power, and the rope that held it was strained
to breaking point. It seemed to tow us, as it grazed the
surface of the water towards the shore.

" What's the matter? " cried William Guy. " Cut away,
boatswain, cut away ! " shouted West, " or we shall be
dragged against the rocks."

Hurliguerly hurried to the bow of the Paracuta to cut
away the rope. Of a sudden the knife he held was snatched
out of his hand, the rope broke, and the grapnel, like a
projectile, shot off in the direction of the sphinx. At the
same moment, all the articles on board the boat that were
made of iron or steel — cooking utensils, arms, Endicott's
stove, our knives, which were torn from our pockets — took
flight after a similar fashion in the same direction, while
the boat, quickening its course, brought up against the
beach.

What was happening? In order to explain these in-
explicable things, were we not obliged to acknowledge that
we had come into the region of those wonders which I
attributed to the hallucinations of Arthur Pym?

No ! These were physical facts which we had just wit-
nessed, and not imaginary phenomena!

We had, however, no time for reflection, as immediately
upon our landing, our attention was turned in another
direction by the sight of a boat which was wrecked upon
the sand.

" The Halbrane' s boat ! " cried Hurliguerly. It was in-
deed the boat which Hearne had stolen, and it was simply

"WE WERE THE FIRST" 383

smashed to pieces; in a word, only the formless wreckage
of a craft which has been flung against rocks by the sea,
remained.

We observed immediately that all the ironwork of the
boat had disappeared, down to the hinges of the rudder.
Not one trace of the metal existed.

What could be the meaning of this?

A loud call from West brought us to a little strip of
beach on the right of our stranded boat.

Three corpses lay upon the stony soil, that of Hearne,
that of Martin Holt, and that of one of the Falklands men.
Of the thirteen who had gone with the sealing-master,
there remained only these three, who had evidently been
dead some days.

What had become of the ten missing men? Had their
bodies been carried out to sea ? We searched all along the
coast, into the creeks, and between the outlying rocks, but
in vain. Nothing was to be found, no traces of a camp,
not even the vestiges of a landing.

"Their boat," said William Guy, "must have been
struck by a drifting iceberg. The rest of Hearne's com-
panions have been drowned, and only these three bodies
have come ashore, lifeless."

" But," asked the boatswain, " how is the state the boat
is in to be explained? "

"And especially," added West, "the disappearance of
all the iron? "

_ " Indeed," said I, " it looks as though every bit had been
violently torn off."

Leaving the Par acuta in the charge of two men, we
again took our way to the interior, in order to extend our
search over a wider expanse.

As we were approaching the huge mound the mist cleared
away, and the form stood out with greater distinctness. It
was, as I have said, almost that of a sphinx, a dusky-hued
sphinx, as though the matter which composed it had been
oxidized by the inclemency of the polar climate.
_ And then a possibility flashed into my mind, an hypothe-
sis which explained these astonishing phenomena.

" Ah ! " I exclaimed, " a lodestone ! that is it ! A magnet
with prodigious power of attraction ! "

I was understood, and in an instant the final catastrophe,

384 THE SPHINX OF ICE

to which Hearne and his companions were victims, was
explained with terrible clearness.

The Antarctic Sphinx was simply a colossal magnet.
Under the influence of that magnet the iron bands of the
Halbrane's boat had been torn out and projected as though
by a catapult. This was the occult force that had irresist-
ibly attracted everything made of iron on the Paracuta.
And the boat itself would have shared the fate of the Hal-
brane's boat had a single bit of that metal been employed
in its construction. Was it, then, the proximity of the
magnetic pole that produced such effects?

At first we entertained this idea, but on reflection we
rejected it. At the place where the magnetic meridians
cross, the only phenomenon produced is the vertical posi-
tion of the magnetic needle in two similar points of the
terrestrial globe. This phenomenon, already proved by ob-
servations made on the spot, must be identical in the
Antarctic regions.

Thus, then, there did exist a magnet of prodigious in-
tensity in the zone of attraction which we had entered.
Under our very eyes one of those surprising effects which
had hitherto been classed among fables was actually pro-
duced.

The following appeared to me to be the true explanation.
The Trade-winds bring a constant succession of clouds or
mists in which immense quantities of electricity not com-
pletely exhausted by storms, are stored. Hence there
exists a formidable accumulation of electric fluid at the
poles, and it flows towards the land in a permanent stream.

From this cause come the northern and southern auroras,
whose luminous splendors shine above the horizon, especi-
ally during the long polar night, and are visible even in the
temperate zones when they attain their maximum of cul-
mination.

These continuous currents at the poles, which bewilder
our compasses, must possess an extraordinary influence.
And it would suffice that a block of iron should be sub-
jected to their action for it to be changed into a magnet
of power proportioned to the intensity of the current, to
the number of turns of the electric helix, and to the square
root of the diameter of the block of magnetized iron.
Thus, then, the bulk of the sphinx which upreared its

"WE WERE THE FIRST" 385

mystic form upon this outer edge of the south might be
calculated by thousands of cubic yards.

Now, in order that the current should circulate around
it and make a magnet of it by induction, what was re-
quired? Nothing but a metallic lode, whose innumerable
windings through the bowels of the soil should be connected
subterraneously at the base of the block.

It seemed to me also that the place of this block ought
to be in the magnetic axis, as a sort of gigantic calamite,
from whence the imponderable fluid whose currents made
an inexhaustible accumulator set up at the confines of the
world should issue. Our compass could not have enabled
us to determine whether the marvel before our eyes really
was at the magnetic pole of the southern regions. All I
can say is, that its needle staggered about, helpless and use-
less. And in fact the exact location of the Antarctic
Sphinx mattered little in respect of the constitution of that-
artificial lodestone, and the manner in which the clouds and
metallic lode supplied its attractive power.

In this very plausible fashion I was led to explain the
phenomenon by instinct. It could not be doubted that we
were in the vicinity of a magnet which produced these ter-
rible but' strictly natural effects by its attraction.

I communicated my idea to my companions, and they
regarded this explanation as conclusive, in presence of the
physical facts of which we were the actual witnesses.

"We shall incur no risk by going to the foot of the
mound, I suppose," said Captain Len Guy.

" None," I replied.

" There — yes — there ! "

I could not describe the impression those three words
made upon us. Edgar Poe would have said that they were
three cries from the depths of the under world. It was
Dirk Peters who had spoken, and his body was stretched
out in the direction of the sphinx, as though it had been
turned to iron and was attracted by the magnet.

Then he sped swiftly towards the sphinx-like mound,
and his companions followed him over rough ground strewn
with volcanic remains of all sorts.

The monster grew larger as we neared it, but lost none
of its mythological shape. Alone on that vast plain it
produced a sense of awe. And— but this could only have

V. XIV Verne J

386 THE SPHINX OF ICE

been a delusion — we seemed to be drawn towards it by the
force of its magnetic attraction.

On arriving at the base of the mound, we found there
the various articles on which the magnet had exerted its
power; arms, utensils, the grapnel of the Paracuta, all ad-
hering to the sides of the monster. There also were the
iron relics of the Halbrane's boat, all her utensils, arms,
and fittings, even to the nails and the iron portions of the
rudder.

There was no possibility of regaining possession of any
of these things. Even had they not adhered to the lode-
stone rock at too great a height to be reached, they adhered
to it too closely to be detached. Hurliguerly was infuriated
by the impossibility of recovering his knife, which he rec-
ognized at fifty feet above his head, and cried as he shook
his clenched fist at the imperturbable monster, " Thief of a
sphinx ! "

Of course the things which had belonged to the Hal-
brane's boat and the Paracuta 's were the only articles that
adorned the mighty sides of the lonely mystic form.
Never had any ship reached such a latitude of the Antarctic
Sea. Hearne and his accomplices, Captain Len Guy and
his companions, were the first who had trodden this point
of the southern continent. And any vessel that might
have approached this colossal magnet must have incurred
certain destruction. Our schooner must have perished,
even as its boat had been dashed into a shapeless and hope-
less wreck.

West now reminded us that it was imprudent to prolong
our stay upon this Land of the Sphinx — a name to be re-
tained. Time pressed, and a few days' delay would have
entailed our wintering at the foot of the ice-barrier.

The order to return to the beach had just been given,
when the voice of the half-breed was again heard, as he
cried out: "There! There! There!"

We followed the sounds to the back of the monster's
right paw, and we found Dirk Peters on his knees, with
his hands stretched out before an almost naked corpse,
which had been preserved intact by the cold of these
regions, and was as rigid as iron. The head was bent, a
white beard hung down to the waist, the nails of the feet
and hands were like claws.

"WE WERE THE FIRST" 387

How had this corpse been fixed to the side of the mound
at six feet above the ground ?

Across the body, held in place by its cross-belt, we saw
the twisted barrel of a musket, half-eaten by rust.

" Pym — my poor Pym! " groaned Dirk Peters.

He tried to rise, that he might approach and kiss the
ossified corpse. But his knees bent under him, a strangled
sob seemed to rend his throat, with a terrible spasm his
faithful heart broke, and the half-breed fell back — dead!

The story was easy to read. After their separation, the
boat had carried Arthur Pym through these Antarctic
regions! Like us, once he had passed beyond the south
pole, he came into the zone of the monster! And there,
while his boat was swept along on the northern current, he
was seized by the magnetic fluid before he could get rid of
the gun which was slung over his shoulder, and hurled
against the fatal lodestone Sphinx of the Ice-realm.

Now the faithful half-breed rests under the clay of the
Land of the Antarctic Mystery, by the side of his " poor
Pym," that hero whose strange adventures found a
chronicler no less strange in the great American poet!

CHAPTER XV

A LITTLE REMNANT

That same day, in the afternoon, the Paracuta departed
from the coast of the Land of the Sphinx, which had lain
to the west of us since the 21st of February.

By the death of Dirk Peters the number of the passengers
was reduced to twelve. These were all who remained of
the double crew of the two schooners, the first comprising
thirty-eight men, the second, thirty-two; in all seventy
souls. But let it not be forgotten that the voyage of the
Halbrane had been undertaken in fulfillment of a duty to
humanity, and four of the survivors of the Jane owed their
rescue to it.

And now there remains but little to tell, and that little
must be related as succinctly as possible. It is unnecessary
to dwell upon our return voyage, which was favored by the
constancy of the currents and the wind to their northern
course. The last part of the voyage was indeed accom-

388 THE SPHINX OF ICE

plished amid great fatigue, suffering, and danger, but it
ended in our safe deliverance from all these.

Firstly, a few days after our departure from the Land of
the Sphinx, the sun set behind the western horizon to re-
appear no more for the whole winter. It was then in the
midst of the semi-darkness of the austral night that the
Paracuta pursued her monotonous course. True, the
southern polar lights were frequently visible ; but they were
not the sun, that single orb of day which had illumined
our horizons during the months of the Antarctic summer,
and their capricious splendor could not replace his unchang-
ing light. That long darkness of the poles shed a moral
and physical influence on mortals which no one can elude,
a gloomy and overwhelming impression almost impossible
to resist.

Of all the Paracutafs passengers, the boatswain and
Endicott only preserved their habitual good-humor; those
two were equally insensible to the weariness and the peril of
our voyage. I also except West, who was ever ready to
face every eventuality, like a man who is always on the de-
fensive. As for the two brothers Guy, their happiness in
being restored to each other made them frequently oblivious
of the anxieties and risks of the future.

Of Hurliguerly I cannot speak too highly. He proved
himself a thoroughly good fellow, and it raised our droop-
ing spirits to hear him repeat in his jolly voice :

" We shall get to port all right, my friends, be sure of
that. And, if you only reckon things up, you will see that
we have had more good luck than bad. Oh, yes, I know,
there was the loss of our schooner! Poor Halbrane,
carried up into the air like a balloon, then flung into the
deep like an avalanche ! But, on the other hand, there was
the iceberg which brought us to the coast, and the Tsalal
boat which brought us and Captain William Guy and his
three companions together. And don't forget the current
and the breeze that have pushed us on up to now, and will
keep pushing us on, I'm sure of that. With so many
trumps in our hand we cannot possibly lose the game. The
only thing to be regretted is that we shall have to get
ashore again in Australia or New Zealand, instead of cast-
ing anchor at the Kerguelens, near the quay of Christmas
Harbor, in front of the Green Cormorant."

A LITTLE REMNANT 389

For a week we pursued our course without deviation to
east or west, and it was not until the 21st of March that
the Paracuta lost sight of Halbrane Land, being carried
towards the north by the current, while the coast-line of the
continent, for such we are convinced it is, trended in a
round curve to the northeast.

Although the waters of this portion of sea were still
open, they carried a flotilla of icebergs or ice-fields. Hence
arose serious difficulties and also dangers to navigation in
the midst of the gloomy mists, when we had to maneuver
between these moving masses, either to find passage or to
prevent our little craft from being crushed like grain be-
tween "the millstones.

Besides, Captain Len Guy could no longer ascertain his
position either in latitude or, longitude. The sun being
absent, calculation by the position of the stars was too
complicated, it was impossible to take altitudes, and the
Paracuta abandoned herself to the action of the current,
which invariably bore us northward, as the compass indi-
cated. By keeping the reckoning of its medium speed,
however, we concluded that on the 27th of March our
boat was between the sixty-ninth and the sixty-eighth
parallels, that is to say, some seventy miles only from the
Antarctic Circle.

Ah! if no obstacle to the course of our perilous naviga-
tion had existed, if passage between this inner sea of the
southern zone and the waters of the Pacific Ocean had
been certain, the Paracuta might have reached the extreme
limit of the austral seas in a few days. But a few hun-
dred miles more to sail, and the iceberg-barrier would con-
front us with its immovable rampart, and unless a passage
could be found, we should be obliged to go round it either
by the east or by the west.

Once cleared indeed.

Ah! once cleared, we should be in a frail craft upon
the terrible Pacific Ocean, at the period of the year when
its tempests rage with redoubled fury and strong ships
dread the might of its waves.

We were determined not to think of this. Heaven
would come to our aid. We should be picked up by some
ship. This the boatswain asserted confidently, and we were
bound to believe the boatswain.

39Q THE SPHINX OF ICE

For six entire days, until the 2d of April, the Paracuta
held her course among the ice-barrier, whose crest was
profiled at an altitude of between seven and eight hundred
feet above the level of the sea. The extremities were not
visible either on the east or the west, and if our boat did
not find an open passage, we could not clear it. By a most
fortunate chance a passage was found on the above-men-
tioned date, and attempted, amid a thousand risks.

At last we were in the South Pacific waters, but our
boat had suffered severely in getting through, and it had
sprung more than one leak. We were kept busy in baling
out the water.

The breeze was gentle, the sea more calm than we could
have hoped, and the real danger did not lie in the risks of
navigation. No, it arose from the fact that not a ship
was visible in these waters, not a whaler was to be seen on
the fishing-grounds. At the beginning of April these places
are forsaken, and we arrived some weeks too late.

We were fifteen hundred miles away from the nearest
land, and winter was a month old! Hurliguerly himself
was obliged to acknowledge that the last fortunate chance
upon which he had counted had failed us.

On the 6th of April we were at the end of our resources;
the sea began to threaten, the boat seemed likely to be
swallowed up in the angry waves.

" A ship ! " cried the boatswain, and on the instant we
made out a vessel about four miles to the northeast be-
neath the mist which had suddenly risen.

Signals were made, signals were perceived ; the ship low-
ered her largest boat and sent it to our rescue.

This ship was the Tasman, an American three-master,
from Charlestown, where we were received with eager wel-
come and cordiality. The captain treated my companions
as though they had been his own countrymen.

The Tasman had come from the Falkland Islands where
the captain had learned that seven months previously the
American schooner Halbrane had gone to the southern
seas in search of the shipwrecked people of the Jane. But
as the season advanced, the schooner not having reap-
peared, she was given up for lost in the Antarctic regions.

Thus terminated this adventurous and extraordinary ex-
pedition, which cost, alas, too many victims. Our final

A LITTLE REMNANT 391

word is that although the chances and the necessities of
our voyage carried us farther towards the south pole than
those who preceded us, although we actually did pass be-
yond the axial point of the terrestrial globe, discoveries of
great value still remain to be made in those waters !

Arthur Pym, the hero whom Edgar Poe has made so
famous, has shown the way. It is for others to follow
him, and to wrest the last Antarctic Mystery from the
Sphinx of the Ice-realm.

THE END